Accelerating Collaborations For Evaluation Matching Service

• Co-PIs:      Albert Wu, MD, MPH, and Jill Marsteller, PhD, MPP; co-Investigators Christine Weston, PhD and Lee Bone, RN, MPH
• Funder:     Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Status:       Ongoing

Accelerating Collaborations for Evaluation (ACE) offers a Matching Service to connect RWJF Evidence for Action (E4A) applicants involved in community initiatives with research partners so they can work together to develop or enhance an applicant’s evaluation strategy to obtain future funding.

The ACE Matching Service hopes to expand E4A research funding to community-based non-profits, social service providers, government agencies, and other less traditionally funded applicants. Ultimately, this will increase the diversity of grantees' backgrounds and perspectives and help those organizations to build evidence to promote a Culture of Health. ACE also intends to form a registry of evaluators who are interested in being paired with organizations conducting interesting programs to improve a Culture of Health.
 

“One of the best things about my job has always been connecting people with common interests to facilitate their success. That’s what we’re doing with the ACE matching service. There are organizations out there with great ideas but no expertise or resources for evaluation. I expect we will put together some very productive relationships that will ultimately impact the Culture of Health.” — Jill Marsteller, ACE Co-PI

“Across the country, there is an surge of innovative programs that promote a culture of health. We’ve needed something like this matching service for a long time. If we can demonstrate the effectiveness of these programs they can get further support and ultimately serve as a model for others.”  — Albert Wu, ACE Co-PI