The UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation team has worked with South LA Eco-Lab partners to develop an evaluation plan for their Transformative Climate Community (TCC) grant. South LA’s Eco-Lab TCC grant is $35 million and funds the implementation of projects and plans from 2023 through 2028.

The evaluation plan was the result of a collaborative logic modeling process with South LA Eco-Lab project partners. Logic models visually illustrate the steps that must occur for a project or plan to realize its intended goals. The evaluation team at the Luskin Center for Innovation then translated the steps in the South LA Eco-Lab logic models into indicators that could be quantified and tracked. These indicators are the basis for many of the accomplishments that are presented on this website. The indicator data and derivative accomplishments will be updated annually each spring through 2028.

To complement the indicator data, the Luskin Center for Innovation is also uplifting the personal stories of the South LA Eco-Lab partners and the individuals they serve. New stories will also be published to the website on a rolling basis as they are finalized.

It’s important to note that the individuals featured in the “Stories from the Community” chapter are recruited directly by TCC project partners and then interviewed by the UCLA evaluation team. While providing invaluable insights into what the TCC model looks like in practice, these interviews are not included in the formal evaluation plan for South LA (and thus are discussed separately from other qualitative data collection activities) because the interviewees are not recruited through traditional program evaluation practices.

Given TCC’s emphasis on community empowerment, the UCLA evaluation team felt it was critical to give project partners the opportunity to tell their stories. Stories from the community also serve to highlight the lived experiences of residents and workers who have shaped — or been shaped by — the implementation of TCC.

Meet UCLA’s Evaluation Team
See the Evaluation Plan for 2023 Through 2028
See the Indicator Data that UCLA is Tracking
Read the Stories that UCLA is Uplifting