The Health Federation of Philadelphia (HFP) coordinated the learning collaborative as part of its MARC 1.0 Initiative. HFP, with guidance from the MARC Advisory Committee, provided financial investment and technical assistance to the participating sites with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The California Endowment. A cross-site evaluation of the MARC 1.0 Initiative was conducted by Westat.
Evaluation
In collaboration with HFP and the 14 communities, Westat conducted a three-year, cross-site evaluation of the MARC 1.0 initiative. Primary methods included multiple site visits, evaluability assessments, social network analysis, and outcome harvesting. Findings indicate that the participating networks:
- Grew, bringing in more members and sectors
- Increased collaboration among partners
- Engaged in a variety of activities, from strengthening their own networks, fostering other networks, building awareness, training and technical assistance, advocating for and informing policy, building evidence, among others
- Contributed either directly or indirectly to over 100 outcomes, most often involving changes in organizations and systems
- Used a variety of processes of change, such as working through their network members, engaging in direct outreach and training efforts, providing expertise and serving as a trusted source
- Provided lessons for others interested in implementing networks and/or addressing ACEs and fostering resilience.
Read the executive summary of Westat's final evaluation report (2019) here.
Download Westat's final evaluation report (2019) here and interim evaluation report (2017) here.
Get the MARC 1.0 logic model here.
NEW!!! Find out more about our latest evaluation resources, including a DIY toolkit for networks, here.
MARC 1.0 Communities
Advisors
Funders
HFP received generous support for the MARC 1.0 Initiative from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The California Endowment.
The views expressed on this website do not necessarily reflect the views of our funders.