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Evaluation

Seminar - 90 Minutes

Finding Impact: What Decision-Makers Want to Know and How Evaluation Can Help Tell Your Story

Tuesday, April 14, 2026
10:45 AM - 12:15 PM CT
Location: Five Moons 5
CE: 1.5
Disclosure(s):
Karam H. Ahmad, MPH: No financial relationships to disclose
Katinka Hakuta, MPH: No financial relationships to disclose
Kelly L. Schroeder, MS, RDH: No financial relationships to disclose
Eric P. Tranby, PhD: No financial relationships to disclose
Session Description: Funders, grantees, and other program decision makers want to know more than what a program does — they want to see the impact it creates. How can you find that impact? Theory of change (ToC) models, as part of an evaluation plan, provide a powerful way to visualize program objectives, influencing factors, and consequential outcomes that matter most for program sustainability, growth, and advocacy.
During this session, attendees will learn about theory of change (ToC) models and how they can inform program or intervention impact and influence decision-makers. Through the voices of an oral health policy and change advocate, evaluation partners oral health funders, and an oral health grantee, attendees will learn how to build a strong evaluation framework that can capture meaningful data. They’ll leave with a clear understanding of how evaluation can be the critical bridge between optimistic vision and lasting results.

Learning Objectives:

  • Define evaluation and how it can help inform stakeholders of program progress.
  • Describe the theory of change model.
  • Recognize how evaluation can contribute to program growth and development.
  • Map program objectives to program outcomes and impacts using a theory of change model.