October 15, 2025

City Club event description:

Should nonprofits and foundations rethink randomized controlled trials and other kinds of evaluation methods to better support Chicago’s communities? This conversation will explore how current approaches to evaluating social service organizations can both illuminate progress and unintentionally undermine the missions they aim to support. Join us for a discussion about what works, what doesn’t, and how philanthropy and the nonprofit sector can move forward toward meaningful, equitable metrics.

This event is part of an ongoing series cohosted by the University of Chicago Crown Family School and the City Club of Chicago, which convenes philanthropic, corporate, and civic leaders to examine critical issues shaping Chicago’s diverse communities.

Jennifer Mosley researches the role of nonprofit organizations as political actors, particularly how human service organizations, community-based nonprofits, and philanthropic foundations advocate for or implement policy change affecting underrepresented populations. She focuses on the relationship between advocacy and democratic representation, and how developments in public administration and nonprofit management—such as collaborative governance, contracting, and evaluation—affect policy outcomes and the roles of nonprofits. Her forthcoming 2025 book with Nicole Marwell, Mismeasuring Impact: How Randomized Controlled Trials Threaten the Nonprofit Sector, examines how the elevation of RCTs as the “gold standard” for nonprofit effectiveness may reduce responsiveness and innovation, potentially weakening the sector in the long run.

Nicole Marwell studies urban governance, focusing on the intersections of nonprofit organizations, government bureaucracies, communities, and politics. Drawing on sociology, organization studies, ethnic studies, political science, and public administration, she examines how organizations mediate key urban processes such as economic production, public goods distribution, community formation, and democratic representation. Using qualitative, quantitative, and historical methods, she investigates how shifts in inter-organizational relations influence urban cohesion, inequality, and exclusion.

City Club video

Daniel Ash is President of the Field Foundation, a private independent foundation that supports community power building in Chicago through strategic investments in civic infrastructure, the cultural sector, local news outlets, and organizers. The Foundation distributes more than $11 million annually to nonprofits, focusing on the city’s South and West Sides. Before becoming President in 2022, Daniel served as Associate Vice President of Community Impact at The Chicago Community Trust.

Liz Dozier is the founder and CEO of Chicago Beyond, a national philanthropic organization committed to addressing systemic inequity by backing solutions led by those closest to the issues. Since 2016, Chicago Beyond has invested over $65 million across justice, health, and other areas, empowering grassroots leaders and influencing systems-level reform. Under Liz’s leadership, the organization has reimagined philanthropy by prioritizing human connection and collective abundance over traditional hierarchies. Current initiatives focus on maternal health, Holistic Safety in corrections, and other innovative approaches to reducing systemic inequities.