Previous issues: In the Mix Stepping Up Evaluation Training Promoting Diversity Among Evaluators	OMG VOICES Using Data to Drive Change Project Director, Meg Long, talks about data collection as a force in building program effectiveness, and describes her role as an evaluation and data analysis partner. You, Victoria Dougherty, and Sarah Singer recently published a handbook titled, Using Data to Drive Change: A Guide for College Access and Success Stakeholders. Will people outside the field of college access and success find the handbook's lessons valuable? Absolutely. Although the handbook uses examples from two college access and success initiatives, it broadly explains how organizations in any field - obesity prevention, youth development, even community development - can use data to improve programming, forge partnerships, change policies, raise money, identify policy obstacles, and communicate key stories. The handbook offers data-collection guidelines for single programs and community initiatives designed around partnerships. How does OMG apply these guidelines and support clients? The OMG team begins by training the leaders of individual organizations to determine the most relevant data to collect. We also guide them as they identify who, when, and how the appropriate data will be captured. At the partnership level, we work face-to-face with the stakeholders, training them to analyze data and use research to shift policies and to make program adjustments across the system. It takes close cooperation to make coordinated adjustments among related programs. How do you promote a spirit of partnership? I find that data collection and analysis provides a strong common thread as a partnership gradually takes up its community agenda. In many partnerships, data collection itself becomes a rallying call and a key driver of change. How has the data collection and coaching you provide helped your clients? Using data to frame and drive decision-making helps stakeholders become more strategic. In Milwaukee, for example, we collected data about organizational interest and capacity to identify prospective partners for a citywide college access and success partnership. This allowed the convening partner to build a very deliberate and targeted partnership. In Philadelphia, we looked at student arts-access patterns in neighborhoods and schools to help a partnership select pilot locations for a new regional arts education strategy. Since it's widely known that strategic data collection is a fundamental component to increasing program effectiveness, why is it not more widely practiced? Few organizations have the luxury of time and resources to build a data collection system and set aside staff time and resources for data collection and use. Furthermore, it is not just a matter of developing information systems; it's also about embedding data-driven decision-making into the culture of the organization or the partnership. Building evaluative thinking is a large part of OMG's coaching work. You refer to yourself as a data collection and evaluation partner. Why partner? My goal is to play an active role as an agent of change. That's what the OMG approach is all about: contributing as researchers and thought-partners to help social systems work better for people and communities. Using Data to Drive Change: A Guide for College Access and Success Stakeholders can be found in the Learning Resources section of this web site under "Reports & Publications," or by clicking here. OMG Voices is produced by the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning. Using Data to Drive Change is the fourth issue.