ETB Blogs

Funder Spotlight: Gina Martinez on ETB Value and Building Equitable Evaluation Practices.

Gina Martinez is a Learning and Evaluation Officer at the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), focusing on enhancing the foundation’s impact through organizational and field learning. With over 11 years of experience, she previously worked evaluating behavioral health programs. Gina is skilled in advanced research methods, and quantitative and qualitative data analysis. She holds a BA in Political Science and History from UC San Diego, an MA and PhD in Political Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University. As a Social Impact Researcher and Evaluator, Gina is dedicated to data-driven, evidence-based social change and community support. She recently shared why CHCF subscribes to Expanding the Bench® (ETB) and how collaboration has supported building their practice.

Expanding the Bench has been a valuable, longstanding partner of the California Health Care Foundation. Our staff have participated in the CREE Learning Series and other trainings, established successful evaluation partnerships through Coffee Breaks, and received critical advice and thought partnership from the ETB Team and other Funders of Evaluation. 

Recently, I had the honor of co-presenting with Angel Villalobos, ETB Co-Director, at the Grantmakers for Effective Organizations national conference. Our session guided participants through real-world evaluations grappling with equity challenges, providing them an opportunity to deliberate on appropriate steps in such scenarios. This interactive experience showcased culturally responsive and equitable evaluation — CREE principles in practice — and encouraged thoughtful consideration of evaluation choices. 

In preparing for the event with Angel, we revisited a previous evaluation through a new lens and reinforced the importance of thoughtfully applying CREE principles in our evaluations. ETB’s ongoing guidance and support have allowed CHCF to not only enhance our equitable evaluation practices but also contribute to a more equitable evaluation ecosystem.