Deepti Sood

Evaluating for emergent learning and action

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”—James Baldwin

A thought leader, writer, and speaker on evaluation in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, Deepti is recognized for her ability to frame data in a clear, intentional way that leads to engaged learning for her clients. Her relatable style engages stakeholders at all levels and inspires unified and actionable decision-making. Highly responsive to changing environments with unwavering focus on key goals, she is an effective communicator, willing to raise up difficult issues and address them head on.

With a background in advocacy and working with grassroots organizations, Deepti is inspired by opportunities to proactively partner with communities to impact change. She understands the practical needs various stakeholders require and tailors the evaluation work accordingly.

Deepti served on the founding board of the New York Consortium of Evaluators, a regional American Evaluation Association affiliate, and the steering committee for the New York chapter of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, a membership organization focused on raising up social justice within the philanthropic sector.

At TCC Group:

• William Penn Foundation: Deepti works with the Foundation to help it understand its own impact advancing education issues within the state of Pennsylvania. As part of this work, she has led a multi-year engagement with the Pre-K for PA Campaign aimed at expanding access to Pre-K in Pennsylvania. At the onset, the evaluation focused on mapping the campaign’s goals and its campaign’s internal capacity—assessing the strength of the campaign, the utilization of each organization’s strengths, and the use of strategies to meet their goals. As the campaign progressed, Deepti evaluated its impact, including increased awareness and state budget changes.
• Atlantic Philanthropies: In partnership with Atlantic Philanthropies and the Atlas Learning Project (an initiative of Center for Evaluation Innovation), Deepti spearheaded a comprehensive research analysis of the legal advocacy landscape. Conducting more than 40 interviews, she uncovered how funders, nonprofits, evaluators, and legal professionals think about, structure, and strategically pursue their legal advocacy efforts. With tangible insights, she worked with the partnership group to build a portfolio of resources, answering key questions on how to effectively support legal advocacy. Organized to address the unique challenges of each stakeholder audience, the resources are designed to be useable guides for effective engagement and action. Deepti and the team continue to help leaders in the field think strategically about how to evaluate their ability to defend, sustain, and advance progressive policy change.
• Emergent Fund: Deepti engaged with the Emergent Fund to articulate and evaluate the fund’s rapid response model and impact. Established in response to the 2016 presidential election, the Emergent Fund’s model focused on shifting the burden of funding from grantees to funders. The resulting evaluation report highlighted the model’s successes, areas for improvement, and strategies for replication for other funders.

Before TCC Group:

• Adhikaar: Deepti helped the grassroots organization better understand its existing strategies and evaluative tools to improve the lives of Nepali immigrants in New York. Her findings guided an internal discussion to identify areas and opportunities for Adhikaar to make the most impact within the community.
• Youth INC: Deepti led a series of initiatives for middle schoolers, including mentoring groups and SafeDates—a twelve-week, teen dating violence prevention program with interactive workshops.

Education:

• Wesleyan University
  • MA, Psychology
  • BA, Psychology and Sociology