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Imagine what’s possible.

Focus on what matters. 

Amplify your impact. 

Hi, I’m Kim! 

Founder/Principal of Leonard Research & Evaluation

I help leaders ask better questions and find the answers they need to move toward an equitable future. 

Let's connect

Leonard Research & Evaluation partners with foundations, nonprofits and consultants to gather and make sense of data so that you can understand your impact and celebrate your progress. 

Kim Leonard is one of my favourite people to work with in the foundation sector. She is a highly-experienced researcher and evaluator, has a keen understanding of the nonprofit sector, amazing people skills, and is a joy to work with.
Kylie Hutchinson
Kylie HutchinsonCommunity Solutions
Working with Kim and connecting with her both personally and professionally has been incredibly meaningful. She is caring, relatable, and whip-smart. Kim is also adaptable, pivots quickly yet thoughtfully when necessary, and has a great communication style. She focuses on learning and growing, constantly applying her impeccable listening skills, and also doing her due diligence on topics at hand as she moves through research and evaluation. Most importantly, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion are always at the core of her work. Kim is one of my favorite people – a truly exceptional individual!
Chey Kuzma
Chey KuzmaAssociate Program Officer, Arts & Culture, Oregon Community Foundation
Kim is a knowledgeable, versatile, and responsive evaluator with deep expertise in mixed methods and principles focused evaluation. What really sets her apart is her ability to listen deeply, to co-create solutions with others, and to maintain strong and joy-filled relationships. Groups that work with her will deepen their evaluative practice, lean into their values, and laugh along the way.
Corey Newhouse
Corey NewhouseFounder & Principal, Public Profit
It has been my pleasure to collaborate with Kim for over a decade. Her ability to gently distill even the most complex topics makes her work accessible and engaging. In addition to being a kind human, Kim has a commitment to equity and clear communication that have made our time together a joy! Her openness to diving into the learning we did together about the long-term impacts of quality arts education programs allowed space for the project to evolve naturally over time and to arrive at resources that will be valuable long after the conclusion of the work. One of my favorite partners!
Deb Vaughn
Deb VaughnFormer Education Coordinator at the Oregon Arts Commission
Kim is a wonderful collaborator! She is thoughtful, smart, a great listener, and open-minded. Working with Kim has been both an enlightening and rewarding experience. I've learned so much from our collaborative projects and my work is stronger because of our partnership.
Sheila B. Robinson, Ed.D.
Sheila B. Robinson, Ed.D.Custom Professional Learning, LLC
Kim is a gem. She's deeply knowledgeable about evaluation, philanthropy and the nonprofit sector, but her secret sauce is in community building; making deep, genuine connections; and bringing folks along in the work. Kim thinks expansively about what evaluation can do and be-- and she even makes surveys fun! Most importantly, she keeps humanity at the core of everything she does. Working with her is truly a joy.
Madeline Brandt
Madeline BrandtFormer OCF colleague and current co-conspirator
Kim introduced me to the field of evaluation and I am so grateful I had the chance to enter this field with her as a mentor. She taught me that evaluation should be rooted in collaboration, through which we can learn, grow and celebrate accomplishments. Kim is incredibly smart, kind and dedicated to making a difference in the lives of others. Working with her is a joy and a gift!
Zoe Flanagan
Zoe FlanaganIndependent Consultant
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What I do

Program Evaluation

Through equity-driven, human-centered program evaluation we can better understand what is working and what isn’t and find better ways forward. My work is grounded in the Equitable Evaluation Framework (TM), using evaluation to advance equity, honor how we got here and be inclusive of multiple ways of knowing and thinking. 

Let’s start by building trusting relationships that allow us to understand programs and the people they serve. Together we can focus on what’s possible, creating lasting learning and improvements, and tell more holistic, honest stories about how change happens.

I am not a neutral party — I’m your thought partner and advocate. I want programs like yours to succeed in improving the systems and conditions in which we live and work. I want to celebrate your progress and success, big and small. I will also ask hard questions and set high expectations because people deserve programs and systems that help them thrive.

Learn more about program evaluation

Survey Design

Surveys are still one of the most commonly used tools for plenty of good reasons, including that they allow us to hear from a lot of people over a relatively short period of time. 

But doing surveys well requires great care, especially when we truly want to respect the time, energy and expertise of the people we hope will respond. And in the face of growing digital and survey fatigue. Fortunately, I wrote the book on respondent-centered survey design!

Through customized survey design, training and coaching, I build and help others build surveys that meet important information needs while making sure respondents feel heard and understood. 

Let’s make surveys feel more like conversations than questionnaires, and gain more trustworthy, useful information as a result.

Learn more about survey design

Who I am and how I work

Learn even more about Kim

I’m a researcher, evaluator, facilitator, collaborator, and communicator with over 15 years of experience in program evaluation and improvement, most recently within philanthropy. I am incredibly fortunate to be a practitioner and champion of the Equitable Evaluation Framework (TM). 

I’m also a mother, daughter, wife, dog and cat parent, gardener, knitter, lover of arts and artists and bad reality TV (balance is good, right?). 

I start with curiosity and work to get to know the people and context of a project or program. I act as a facilitator of learning and a promoter of equity and justice. I’m passionate about helping people thrive and empathetic to a fault, if that is possible.

I work collaboratively to build shared ownership of what we learn.

My aim is to minimize burden and build power (which is not finite). I want people to feel and be seen, heard, understood and trusted so that our collective expertise leads to better decisions and more humane programs and systems. 

I want research and evaluation activities to be rewarding experiences for everyone involved. I believe evaluators have to work thoughtfully to minimize and repair harm whenever possible. And that that this work can also be joyful and engaging, and that creating space for connection is vital to making our communities just and equitable.

I know this can lead us to more meaningful, valid, and useful data and enable more intentional use of that data.

My Values

Authenticity –  Being human is messy – let’s embrace it.

Community, not competition – I believe that resources are plentiful and that we can do more together than alone.

Creativity & adaptability – Creative thinking is necessary. I assume things will evolve and change.

Learning & curiosity – Learning and curiosity are core to my practice, and I love when questions result in more questions. 

Future-facing – I want to focus on what is possible, and spend more of my time imagining our way to a better future. 

These values help me contribute to an equitable, just world. The pursuit of equity and justice are my why — the reason I do this work and in the way that I do it.

See my values illustrated

Reach out directly

Leonard Research & Evaluation

10824 SE Oak St., #168

Milwaukie, OR 97222

kim@leonardrande.com

Send me a message

Photos by the incomparable Mikaela DiBerardinis (who specializes in beautiful birth photography): https://www.diberardinis.com/wanderbirthphoto