What Center For Evaluation Innovation, Inc. does

The Center for Evaluation Innovation, Inc. (CEI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2012 and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. The organization partners with philanthropic foundations on evaluation, strategy, learning, convening, and research, with an explicit focus on advancing racial equity and justice. CEI's primary customer segment is philanthropic foundations—particularly their evaluation and learning leaders—who seek support in assessing complex social change initiatives, advocacy and power-building efforts, and systems change strategies.

CEI's core offerings are professional services rather than technology products. The flagship asset is the Evaluation Roundtable, a peer learning network originally founded in 1989 by Patti Patrizi and stewarded by CEI since 2012, connecting evaluation and learning leaders from 130-150+ foundations across the U.S. and Canada. Complementing the Roundtable are direct consulting engagements (innovative evaluation, strategy and learning consulting), a research practice producing benchmarking reports and methodological frameworks, and an events and convening function anchored by an annual Roundtable gathering. CEI also produces an extensive library of publications, teaching cases, and proprietary frameworks—including the systems dynamics vs. systems emergence mental models taxonomy, a power-building framework for advocacy evaluation, and a five-step Learning Framework for systems change strategies—that are widely cited in sector publications such as Stanford Social Innovation Review and The Foundation Review.

CEI's business model is built on three streams: fee-for-service foundation consulting engagements, philanthropic grants and contributions supporting field-building work, and Evaluation Roundtable participation. Notable foundation clients include the Ford Foundation, The California Endowment, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, and the Culture & Community Power Fund. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors (chaired by Bess Rothenberg) and is currently led by Interim CEO Diana Breen following Dr. Hanh Cao Yu's March 2026 departure; a permanent Executive Director search is underway. CEI has 1-10 employees and operates without any disclosed proprietary technology platform.

Name

Center For Evaluation Innovation, Inc.

Legal name

Center for Evaluation Innovation, Inc.

Website

https://evaluationinnovation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Center for Evaluation Innovation is a nonprofit that partners with philanthropic foundations on evaluation, strategy, learning, convening, and research to advance racial equity and justice, stewarding the Evaluation Roundtable network of 130+ foundation leaders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Evaluation Consulting

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Institutional Effectiveness & Continuous Improvement Reviews (EDADAGAD)

Keywords

• Philanthropic evaluation consulting
• Foundation learning services
• Advocacy evaluation research
• Peer learning networks
• Systems change strategy

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Consulting Services: CEI consults with foundations on strategy, learning, evaluation, and systems change through direct professional services engagements. These fee-for-service arrangements constitute a core revenue stream.
2. Grants and Philanthropic Support: CEI receives grant funding from foundations to support its research, field-building, and program work. The organization is structured as a nonprofit and relies on philanthropic investment to fund its core operations and publications.
3. Evaluation Roundtable Membership/Participation: The Evaluation Roundtable is described as a network platform. Foundations participate through a request-to-participate process, suggesting a structured engagement model that may include membership or participation fees.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Center for Evaluation Innovation (CEI) is a nonprofit organization that partners with philanthropic foundations on evaluation, strategy, learning, convening, and research intended to advance racial equity and justice. CEI leads evaluation projects for foundation clients, consults on strategy and learning approaches, runs the Evaluation Roundtable peer learning network spanning 130+ foundations in the U.S. and Canada, and produces publications and teaching cases on systems change, advocacy evaluation, and foundation learning practices.

Product overview

The Center for Evaluation Innovation (CEI) is a nonprofit consulting and research organization that partners with philanthropy to advance racial equity and justice through evaluation and learning. CEI offers a portfolio of interconnected services including innovative evaluation projects, strategy and learning consulting, research, and convening. The core offering is the Evaluation Roundtable, a peer learning network spanning 130+ foundations in the U.S. and Canada. The organization produces knowledge products including publications, insights, and teaching cases on systems change evaluation, advocacy evaluation, foundation learning practices, and strategic learning frameworks. All offerings are consulting and research-based rather than software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Evaluation Roundtable: A network of evaluation and learning leaders from over 130 foundations in the U.S. and Canada, coordinated by CEI since 2012

Products and services

• Evaluation Roundtable A peer learning network of evaluation and learning leaders from over 130 foundations in the U.S. and Canada, providing benchmarking research, convenings, teaching cases, and normative leadership for the philanthropic evaluation field.
• Innovative Evaluation Leading multi-year evaluation projects for philanthropic foundation clients, providing rigorous assessment of complex social change initiatives, advocacy efforts, and systems change programs.
• Strategy and Learning Consulting Consulting services that help foundations develop strategy, learning approaches, theories of change, and systems change frameworks intended to advance racial equity and justice.
• Research Field-building research on evaluation and learning practices in philanthropy, including benchmarking studies and methodological development, such as the CEP/CEI co-published benchmarking report on foundation evaluation practices.
• Roundtable Convenings Annual and regional convenings (e.g., 2025 'Accounting for Systemic Impact'; 2023 'Navigating Power') plus webinars and communities of practice bringing foundation evaluation and learning leaders together for peer exchange and collaborative learning.
• Publications and Resources Extensive library of publications, insights, teaching cases, guides, and frameworks covering systems change, evaluation practice, advocacy evaluation, learning methodologies, and racial equity.

Quantifiable outcome

• Evaluation Roundtable connects 130+ foundation evaluation leaders, enabling peer learning and norm-setting across the philanthropy sector.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 October 2025CEI and CEP co-published a comprehensive benchmarking report on foundation evaluation practices, based on survey data from major U.S. and Canadian foundations. The study analyzed key metrics including evaluation staffing structures, financial investments in evaluation, and perceived usefulness of evaluation information. This partnership represents a flagship, recurring research collaboration that sets sector benchmarks.
• Intelligent MischiefcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCEI partnered with Intelligent Mischief (led by Artistic Director Aisha Shillingford) to evaluate the Culture & Community Power Fund, examining how culture drives structural transformation and community power building. Intelligent Mischief contributed artistic and cultural expertise to the evaluation of trust-based philanthropy models.
• Root. Rise. Pollinate!coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCEI partnered with Root. Rise. Pollinate! to co-evaluate the Culture & Community Power Fund. The evaluation examined how marginalized communities build enduring systemic power through culture, with the partnership combining CEI's evaluation expertise with Root. Rise. Pollinate!'s community power-building lens.
• Ford FoundationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Ford Foundation was featured as the subject of CEI's 2025 Evaluation Roundtable teaching case, examining how the foundation navigates accountability for systemic impact within its Natural Resources and Climate Change International Strategy. CEI produced the teaching case for the Evaluation Roundtable network, representing a deep co-development of organizational learning content.
• Engage R+DcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCEI co-authored the publication 'Learning: The Infrastructure Philanthropy Can't Afford to Lose' with Clare Nolan (Co-Executive Director of Engage R+D) and staff from the James Irvine Foundation and The California Endowment. The publication draws on Engage R+D's evaluations of four major philanthropic crisis responses between 2017 and 2022.
• Patti Patrizi (Founder)coreOthersThe Evaluation Roundtable was founded in 1989 by Patti Patrizi (Patrizi Associates). CEI has been coordinating the Roundtable since 2012. Patti Patrizi's founding role established the platform that CEI now stewards as a preeminent peer learning resource for the sector.
• The California EndowmentflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe California Endowment commissioned CEI to conduct a multi-year evaluation of its Building Healthy Communities initiative, examining what it takes for advocacy to build power in addition to achieving policy wins. This partnership produced the influential 'Advocacy that Builds Power' report and related teaching cases.
• Robert Wood Johnson FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRobert Wood Johnson Foundation invested $36 million in Local Base Building and $16 million in Birth Justice. CEI evaluated both initiatives, producing reports on how community organizing and birth justice organizations build power for health and racial equity.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Center for Effective Philanthropy: CEP is a direct peer that produces sector-shaping research on foundation practices and partners with CEI on the recurring benchmarking report. Both organizations serve philanthropic foundations with evaluation and effectiveness research, and compete for foundation advisory attention.
• Innovation Network: Innovation Network is a nonprofit that builds evaluation capacity in the social sector, including advocacy and policy evaluation. It shares CEI's focus on evaluation methodology and equity-centered practice for foundations and nonprofits.
• Engage R+D: Engage R+D is an evaluation and learning consultancy that co-authored CEI's Learning Infrastructure publication. It serves philanthropic clients with similar evaluation and learning strategy services, making it a direct peer in the foundation evaluation niche.
• TCC Group: TCC Group is a consulting firm serving foundations and nonprofits with strategy, evaluation, and capacity-building services. It overlaps with CEI's work in foundation evaluation and learning strategy, making it a comparable peer for foundation clients.
• La Piana Consulting: La Piana Consulting partners with nonprofits and foundations on strategy, evaluation, and organizational development. It is comparable to CEI in serving philanthropic clients with consulting and learning-oriented engagements.

Emerging players

• Aspen Institute: The Aspen Institute convenes leaders, conducts policy research, and partners with philanthropy on social change initiatives. While broader in scope, it intersects with CEI's sector on convening, field-building, and equity-centered research for philanthropic audiences.

Regional players

• American Evaluation Association: AEA is the professional association for evaluators that sets practice standards and provides professional development for evaluation practitioners. It overlaps with CEI's evaluator audience and convening function within the U.S. evaluation profession.

Broad incumbents

• Arabella Advisors: Arabella Advisors is a philanthropy and impact advisory firm serving foundations and donors with strategy, grantmaking, and evaluation support. It is a broader incumbent offering services that overlap with CEI's foundation consulting work.
• Bridgespan Group: Bridgespan is a larger nonprofit and philanthropy consulting firm offering strategy, evaluation, and capacity-building services to foundations and nonprofits. It is a broad incumbent that overlaps with CEI's foundation advisory work but serves a wider client base.

Others

• The Foundation Review: The Foundation Review is a peer-reviewed journal where CEI staff have served as editors and contributors. It is adjacent to CEI's work as a publication venue for foundation learning and evaluation research, sharing audience with CEI's research outputs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Center For Evaluation Innovation, Inc.