Collective impact teams are at their best when they use data to get better at what they do; team-based meaning making is a powerful way to achieve this goal. However, data analysis can seem like a daunting task, requiring years of training and in-depth technical knowledge. It can be challenging to engage teams in digging into data together, limiting their ability to collectively understand, prioritize, and act on the information they have.

Public Profit created Dabbling in the Data: A Hands-On Guide to Participatory Data Analysis to give collective impact professionals a jumpstart in interpreting data collaboratively. In this session, we will facilitate hands-on, practical approaches to explore and analyze common types of data, using data that collective impact initiatives commonly use. Participants will learn why team-based meaning making leads to better decisions, get hands-on practice with multiple methods, and begin planning how to bring Dabbling to their own work.

Learning Question:  How can collaborative approaches to making meaning of data strengthen analysis, and what do these approaches look like in practice? Participants will learn why collaborative approaches to making meaning of data lead to more rigorous, robust analysis. Participants will preview multiple collaborative approaches through hands-on practice, and identify at least one opportunity to use collaborative meaning making approaches in their own professional settings.