Evaluation is integral to social change, but it must evolve with the help of value deliberation. I first encountered the problem at a youth shelter, where “impact” was measured in beds filled and youth served. But conversations with the young people revealed far more was at stake: disrupted schooling, health struggles, family conflict, survival jobs, identity questions, and friendships through it all. Making a difference in their lives meant a lot more than a temporary place to sleep. I began to wonder: How could evaluation not just measure, but shape systems change and redefine success?

One answer is to listen and incorporate the values of those affected through value deliberation. Though my first evaluation taught me that this is essential, but not enough. In Illinois, we assessed a coal education program involving teachers, government staff, environmental activists, and industry representatives. Their values diverged sharply—some even wanted the program shut down. That experience showed me that evaluation must go beyond inclusion to create space for deliberation about values themselves.

This excerpt from our Evaluative Inquiry for Systemic Change A Guide to Shift Beyond Fixes to Lasting Value introduces the idea of value deliberation and why it matters for systemic change. While conceptual, it challenges evaluation’s technical legacy and sets the stage for the rest of the book, which offers practical guidance on leading systemic change and embedding evaluative inquiry, a way to explore, evidence, and develop value.

We wrote this book for funders, practitioners, and evaluators seeking to reposition their roles in large-scale systems. As scholars and practitioners—Emily in the United States and Pablo in Spain—we work internationally across education, public health, and food systems. This book covering value deliberation shows how evaluation can evolve to address the complexity of social-ecological problems, offering practical processes for shaping and evaluating systemic change collaboratively.—Emily F. Gates and Pablo Vidueira

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We engage in systemic change to understand the world around us and make it better. Value deliberation is central to systemic change. Value is about why something matters, its worth, and its significance within a context. Evaluation means understanding and assessing value. Yet, among the many known systemic approaches to evaluation, nearly all sidestep how to assess value. Many practitioners conceptualize, model, describe, and/or explain systems with few or no suggestions on appraising the value of a system or changes to a system.

Read the full article about embedding value into evaluation by Emily F. Gates and Pablo Vidueira at Stanford Social Innovation Review.