In 2011, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) launched the Global Equality Fund, which supports human rights defenders and civil society activists on several levels. Through the Dignity for All: LGBTI Assistance program, the Global Fund provides emergency assistance for activists under threat, and additional support to build security and resilience of advocacy organizations working on a wide range of LGBTI issues. 

EnCompass conducted a mixed-methods, two-part evaluation of the Global Fund and Dignity for All: LGBTI Assistance Program. EnCompass and DRL then used the evaluation results to co-design a portfolio-level theory of change to guide future investments. EnCompass also developed a complementary system of indicators to measure DRL’s progress in advocacy for and advancement of LGBTI persons’ human rights worldwide. 

The EnCompass team working on this evaluation received high praise from the client, including the comment that our team “is setting the gold standard for evaluation at DRL.”

Photo c/o William Shaw via Public Domain