Assessing Community

The assessment phase of community change work is crucial to our ability to address the problem or issue we are focused on. The more investment we put into thoughtful assessment, the more likely we are to have an impact on the problem at hand. Since our goal is to help and have an impact, then we should be very motivated to be thorough and thoughtful in our assessment approach. As Mr. Shorters reminds us, this should begin with seeing strengths and assets before looking for deficits. Otherwise, changemakers are going to focus on “fixing” rather than “building up.” To do so, it is imperative that you find sources of data as close to those experiencing the problem as possible, seek diverse perspectives, and engage a systemic thinking approach.

This part of the text will focus on developing your understanding of the optimal sources of data for us to access as we engage in the analysis steps of community change work. We will also focus on the ideal and ethical uses of the data you are able to gather.