Providing Evaluation Coaching for the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience

Program Strategy and EvaluationAudience Impact Strategy
Written By Cathy Sigmond

Client: International Coalition of Sites of Conscience | Location: New York, NY | Funding: Institute of Museum and Library Services

 
 

We provided evaluation coaching for the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience’s Addressing the Silences, a nation-wide project to foster co-creation and correct silences & absences in museums.

OVERVIEW

From 2023 to 2025, Kera Collective served as an evaluation coach to the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC) in the implementation and evaluation of their IMLS grant, Addressing the Silences: Museums Reflect, Correct and Transform to Foster Social Cohesion. For Addressing the Silences, ICSC brought together museums from across the country to help these “sites create ever deeper, more meaningful relationships in their communities.” Through the project, ICSC worked with participating institutions to foster spaces for reflection and social change within their organizations. ICSC guided institutions through three intentional phases of change & relationship building (reflection, correction, and collaborative transformation). 

During these years, Kera staff advised Coalition staff in evaluation and assessment of the IMLS project, providing support by defining program/evaluation logic model, reviewing reflective and evaluation tools (e.g., program objectives, front-end assessment, post-program survey), and offering guidance in establishing methods of measurement and reporting.

APPROACH

 We sought to provide consistent and effective evaluation coaching through:

  • A logic model: Kera and ICSC collaborated to create an Addressing the Silences logic model, a framework of the program's goals that detailed the short-term, mid-term, and long-term expectations for the program.

  • Monthly, remote coaching calls: Kera regularly met with Addressing the Silences staff to provide recommendations on methods to collect actionable data and ways to align tools or cohort sessions with the project’s audience outcomes. 

  • Regular feedback: Kera reviewed evaluation and reflection tools (e.g., front-end evaluation & needs assessment, reflective worksheets, program observation guides, post-program survey) and offered suggestions. 

  • Kera staff-led sessions: Kera facilitated virtual sessions on logic models and evaluation outcomes for participating Addressing the Silences institutions.

CLIENT TAKEAWAYS

Throughout the coaching project, the Addressing the Silences logic model served as a helpful tool of alignment, identifying ways evaluation and reflection tools could more accurately reflect program goals and outcomes. Moreover, by offering synchronous and asynchronous feedback, we helped ICSC staff streamline their evaluative approach, utilize ways to assess the project's shared purpose across different phases, and integrate best evaluation practices into their sessions and resources.

Cathy Sigmond

Cathy brings many years of experience in education and experience design to her role as Head of Strategy at Kera Collective. 

Having previously worked in a variety of educational settings, Cathy is driven by her constant fascination and delight at how people make discoveries about the familiar and the unfamiliar. 

Cathy loves helping to shape experiences that spark curiosity and make a difference in people’s lives. She particularly enjoys the rapid, iterative nature of design-based research and the deep insights that come from qualitative research, especially on projects exploring interactions with the digital and built environments. 

Cathy shares her passion for experience design research widely and regularly guest lectures for graduate programs, including the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Exhibition and Experience Design Program and the Pratt Institute’s School of Information. Cathy served as the co-chair of the Museum Computer Network’s Human-Centered Design special interest group from 2018-2021.

Outside of work, you can usually find Cathy playing soccer, thrifting, or making her way through her large cookbook collection. 

Cathy’s favorite museum experiences are immersive; she will always vividly remember walking through the giant heart at the Franklin Institute, being surrounded by birds at the Peabody Essex Museum, and hearing centuries-old instruments come to life at the Museum of Musical Instruments. 

Next

Understanding Visitor Experience in the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center’s “Sightlines: Chinatown and Beyond” Exhibition