Wednesday Webinars at Philanthropy Southwest
Where Southwest funders convene for expert-led learning that moves best practices into action.
Moving the Needle: Strategies for Evaluating the Impacts of Your Grantmaking
May 20, 2026 10 AM to 11 AM CST
Foundations are increasingly expected to demonstrate impact, adapt in real time, and make data-informed decisions, yet many struggle to balance rigor with practicality. In this webinar, nationally respected evaluation leader Dr. Annie Wright, Executive Director of SMU’s Center on Research and Evaluation (CORE), will guide funders through how to design evaluation strategies that are both methodologically sound and feasible within real-world constraints.
Drawing on her experience across K–12 systems, nonprofit ecosystems, and cross-sector partnerships, Dr. Wright will walk participants through how to build strong process and outcome evaluation frameworks, select appropriate and manageable data collection methods, and translate findings into clear, actionable insights for internal teams, boards, and community partners. She will also share practical approaches to coordinating evaluation efforts across multiple stakeholders, ensuring alignment, learning, and continuous improvement.
This interactive session will offer real-world examples, opportunities for reflection, and concrete tools that foundations can immediately apply to strengthen their evaluation practices and better understand (and communicate) the impact of their grantmaking.
Meet the speaker:
Dr. Annie Wright, Executive Director, The Addy Foundation Center on Research & Evaluation at Southern Methodist University
Dr. Annie Wright is the Executive Director for Southern Methodist University’s Center on Research and Evaluation (CORE). She is a Clinical Community psychologist and a program evaluator. Her expertise is in the planning, implementation and evaluation of K-12 educational programming. She works with a range of educational ecosystems, including districts, schools, and out of school time non-profits. She has a particular interest in the work of community coalitions focused on systems-level change.
Dr. Wright pays particular attention to both community and implementation science principles in order to inform and advocate for effective and equitable programming. Within educational settings, her content expertise covers expanded learning ecosystems, strategic partnerships, social & emotional learning and STEM, pre-kindergarten and early childhood education, programming within museums and other informal learning settings, college and career readiness, and educator pipeline programs.
Her responsibilities as the Executive Director include ensuring the quality and rigor of all CORE projects and facilitating smooth collaboration with program staff, funders, and other evaluation partners. Dr. Wright is also responsible for developing complex, yet feasible, process and outcome evaluation plans, multiple forms of data collection, management, analysis, report writing and presentations, in addition to coordinating CORE’s evaluation team.
Dr. Wright co-leads the Consortium on Educational Research and Improvement (CERI), a formal research-practice partnership between SMU and DallasISD.