Learning and Evaluation
What We Do
Our Learning and Evaluation work helps us understand the extent to which Sierra Health Foundation and The Center achieve its goals. By gathering insights and identifying areas for continuous improvement, we support learning that strengthens programs and deepens our impact in the communities we serve.
Learning
Learning is the continuous process through which we exchange insights, reflect on experiences and apply knowledge to strengthen our work.
It enables us to adapt, grow and make informed decisions that improve outcomes across the organization.
We incorporate opportunities for reflection and dialogue throughout our evaluation efforts, creating ongoing feedback loops that allow staff and partners to engage with findings in real time. This approach ensures that learning is not only documented, but actively used to guide strategy and practice.
Our learning efforts span multiple levels — across individual programs, the organization as a whole and in collaboration with funded partners. We foster a culture of learning by welcoming diverse perspectives, creating an environment that embraces learning from mistakes, setting clear learning objectives and making our thinking visible.
Evaluation
Evaluation is the process of systematically gathering information to learn about our work.
It’s used to discover what’s working well, what could be improved and determine the results of our efforts.
Our Learning and Evaluation team works collaboratively with program teams to identify what we want to learn and why it matters. We take into account the complexity of each program, the resources invested and the specific needs of the communities at the center of our efforts. This approach ensures that the insights we gather are not only meaningful — but also actionable.
To enrich our understanding, we partner with external evaluation consultants to bring in additional expertise, offer new perspectives and help us stay accountable to our mission. These partnerships deepen our understanding and ensure we are good stewards of both resources and relationships.
Most of our evaluations are commissioned through The Center at Sierra Health Foundation (The Center). Please visit The Center’s website to learn more about our reports.
Our Guiding Principles
We believe effective learning and evaluation require adaptable approaches that reflect the specific context, audience and needs of those most impacted by our work. The core principles below guide our processes and help us stay true to our values of action-oriented results, integrity, respect, continuous improvement and equity.
Equity
To the extent possible, we prioritize culturally responsive and equitable approaches to evaluation and learning to ensure underrepresented voices and perspectives are heard and present in our work.
Ethical Practices
We abide by high professional ethical standards to maximize the benefits and reduce risks or harms for individuals.
Actionable Insights
Our results and learnings are designed to be useful and actionable, empowering our board, staff and partners to make informed decisions. We work to ensure results and learnings are available in time for use and presented in a way that is understandable and culturally responsive.
Transparency
We are committed to sharing our insights openly and accurately throughout the learning and evaluation process, whether they reflect successes or setbacks, to foster learning across the community.
Who We Are
Our diverse team brings together a rich blend of cultural identities, professional backgrounds and life experiences to inform our daily work. This wide range of perspectives, combined with our shared commitment to equity-focused, culturally responsive and community-centered evaluation significantly enhances the effectiveness of our department’s practices. Together, we leverage our unique insights to foster inclusive evaluation processes that resonate with the communities we serve.
Meet Our Team
Maurice Samuels
Managing Director
he/his
Maurice is responsible for ensuring that all the work of the Evaluation and Learning Department is carried out in alignment with the mission, vision and core values of Sierra Health Foundation and The Center. Prior to joining the team, Maurice was a Senior Evaluation Officer at the MacArthur Foundation, where he contributed to the use of measurement, evaluation and learning to support informed decision-making by the foundation’s staff and board of directors. He is an active member of the American Evaluation Association. He has served on its Board of Directors, the American Journal of Evaluation editorial board, and has been a host site coordinator for the Graduate Education Diversity Internship Program . Maurice earned his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with an emphasis on research and evaluation methods. He attended Xavier University of Louisiana, where we earned a Bachelor of Science and a Masters of Art. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking and competing in triathlons.
For more insights into Maurice’s motivations and values, you can watch this brief video where he discusses his commitment to racial equity and justice – Why work at The Center at the Sierra Health Foundation.
Noemi Avalos
Senior Evaluation Officer
(she/hers)
Noemi manages external evaluations and supports internal monitoring of diverse programs, including those focused on health equity and healthy youth development. Previously, she served four years as an Evaluation Fellow with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is also an alumni of the Expanding the Bench’s Leaders in Equitable Evaluation and Diversity Program. She currently serves as the Program Co-Chair of the American Evaluation Association’s Youth Focused Evaluation Topical Interest Group. She has a Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior from UC Davis, and a Master of Public Health from Loma Linda University. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, taking care of house plants and spending time with loved ones.
Elaine Lander
Evaluation and Learning Officer
(she/them)
Elaine supports organizational learning, facilitates strategic alignment, and supports grantee centered evaluation and learning. Elaine is committed to interdisciplinary collaboration and centers equity in her work through an approach of rigorous compassion and playful curiosity. Her diverse experiences help surface alternate perspectives and creative approaches. Previously, Elaine worked at The California Endowment where she managed contracts and grants, supported organizational learning, and facilitated internal and external communications for shared learning and field building. In her spare time, Elaine can be found knitting, hiking or cooking over a campfire.
Erin Hassett
Evaluation Associate
(she/hers)
Erin provides evaluation and data management support to multiple programs, including those focused on health equity, violence prevention, and systems-impacted youth. She enjoys providing training to staff and funded partners on reporting and navigating the databases used by programs. She is a certified Tableau Desktop Specialist and a member of the LGBTQ+ Voices in Evaluation Topical Interest Group within the American Evaluation Association. She received her Master of Public Health in Community and Public Health Practice from the School of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of San Francisco. In her free time, Erin enjoys playing games with friends and family and spending time with her pet rabbit.
Questions? Email us!