The Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab was created in 2017 under the leadership of the Governor’s Office to unlock data-informed solutions to our most pressing social problems. Working together with a broad range of government and community partners, we conduct research with rigor to obtain the best available evidence to address these challenges.
We operate under the belief that government can be most effective and efficient when all sectors—public, private, nonprofit, community, and academic—work together to develop solutions to society’s most pressing problems.
So we meet our partners where they are, work together to innovate, achieve targeted goals, and ensure that resources are used wisely.
We use the Colorado Steps to Building Evidence model to conduct research and evaluation with rigor. We want to understand the core causes of problems and build evidence to inform, activate, and sustain efforts that improve the lives of Colorado residents.
When we do this, we leverage data to inform policy and practice and set the wheels in motion to achieve and sustain change.
Colorado’s five-year vision for Evidence-Based Decision-Making (EBDM) in policymaking was created collaboratively by members of the executive and legislative branches, non-governmental partners, and the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab (Colorado Lab). EBDM is recognized as an important means to drive smart state investments, continuous quality improvement, innovation, and meaningful outcomes.
On September 19, the Colorado Lab’s Kristin Klopfenstein and Lauren Gase, along with Allison Metz from UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Social Work and Just Learning Systems’ Kirsten Kainz, presented the webinar “Exploring Opportunities for Evaluators and Implementation Practitioners To Work Together To Create Sustainable and Equitable Change.”
The Colorado Lab convened all of the evaluation teams participating in the Early Childhood Evaluation Hub. Each team shared information about the evaluations of the stimulus-funded activities they are conducting and collectively discussed cross-cutting themes.
