A Creative Evaluation Firm
What We Do
At Coco Canary, we do evaluation differently
We are cultural workers using evaluation, community engagement, and art to keep organizations grounded in their values and held accountable to their social justice goals.
Always in collaboration with clients and consulting partners, we use arts-based approaches and community-based participatory research (CBPR) best practices to evaluate programs, organizational development, or community initiatives.
We call this Creative Evaluation.
A video about a Coco Canary Creative Evaluation Project completed in 2023 created by the Public Health - Seattle & King County Communication's Department
We recognize that each project we do is part of a larger ecosystem that is pushing for systems change, whether that be a grassroots movement, a DEAI initiative at an organization, or a government-funded program.
"What people loved was the art. They were surprised. They have never seen it or heard it. The working group was asking about it, and now people absolutely loved it. It is nice and reflects what the people feel. It was one of those things that was hard to picture, but once they saw it, we now think, 'How did we never do that before?!'"
- A Past Client from Public Health of Seattle & King County (2023)
"I hope future projects always have a community feedback session. That was the best part. Even if it was hard to hear what they were saying, it was eye-opening. Creating that space for the community where they can tell us what they think. That would be something I want to see in future projects"
- A Past Client from Public Health of Seattle & King County (2023)
"The history, insights, and tools we gained yesterday from Donte and Molly's [Breaking the Cycle of White Supremacy Culture] workshop will help us all on that continuous journey."
- A Current Client from Habitat for Humanity — Twin Cities (2023)
"Molly performed outstanding work by helping us to identify, evaluate, and better understand [a particular] demographic and what our educational gaps were. But more importantly, we learned a great deal from Molly by having difficult conversations about the historical audience of land grant universities and how to approach these topics in a more inclusive manner."
- A Past Client from University of Minnesota Department of Forest Resources (2022)
A visualization of the Creative Evaluation & Engagement Approach by Nora Murphy Johnson & A. Rafael Johnson. Drawn by Molly C. O'Connor
Our Process
We use the Creative Evaluation & Engagement Approach (Johnson & Johnson, 2022). It offers a non-linear way to align, learn, adapt, and embody the complexity of data and sense-making. While also promoting equity, trust, healing, and transformative change.
When working with and in community, we also utilize Community-Based Participatory Research best practices (Wallerstein, 2018).
At Coco Canary, we use this approach with our clients to design, measure, and critically engage with their work. And we do this using arts-based methods, principles-based approaches, and community-centric practices.
Our process is intuitive. With any project grounded in equity—and has the outcome for shared liberation—it is necessary to have your heart and mind open to emergent change. To accommodate for emergence, we use guiding principles, which are values written into actionable statements. These principles become the project's North Star, helping us know when we get off track and how to get back on, always grounded in our values and overall goals.
For example, our process almost always has an "Evocative Playback," which is an embodiment technique where data is translated into an artistic performance or exhibition, to allow for deeper meaning making. Getting to that point can take many different shapes and forms, each of which are valid. Because, in the end, our process prioritizes the journey not the outcome.
Interested in learning more about Evocative Playback?
Watch our videos at Coco Canary's Youtube page (in English and Español)
Case Studies
Using Photovoice for Seattle Public Health Hazardous Waste Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)
June 2024 - Dec 2025
With Culture Shift Consulting, we are using Creative Evaluation, CBPR, and the arts-based method Photovoice to determine the negative impacts of hazardous waste in South Seattle and what motivates people to take action to reduce its impact. With the help of a community task force, we will then co-design tangible actions, such as a community engagement plan or new policy, and then present them to people in power with the intention to put our plan into action.
This project was hosted by Culture Shift Consulting, and Coco Canary was the Creative Evaluation & CBPR subcontractor.
What Does Equitable Contracting Look Like? A Creative Evaluation with Public Health Seattle & King County
June 2022 - May 2023
With Culture Shift Consulting, we used the CE&E framework, CBPR best practices, & arts-based methods, a community planning committee, and local artists to imagine what equitable contracting could look and feel like in Seattle & King County. BIPOC-led community-based organizations came together via facilitated community convenings to share their experiences, write a collective story (vision statement), and have their vision turned into public art pieces. This story became the project team's roadmap to what needs to change from the eyes and ears of their community.
This project was hosted by Culture Shift Consulting, and Coco Canary was the Creative Evaluation subcontractor.
A 3-Year Creative Evaluation & Graphic Cartooning for a Multi-County Habitat for Humanity
Apr 2022 - January 2025
Coco Canary is partnering with Donte Curtis from Catch Your Dream (CYD) to evaluate organizational knowledge and culture change through a 3-year Breaking the Cycle of White Supremacy Workshop series. We assist in workshop facilitation and data collection. After each workshop, data is compiled, analyzed, and made into a creative report for further discussion during voluntary DEAI meetings. These reports utilize a technique called Graphic Cartooning (as seen in the image above).
This project is hosted by Catch Your Dream Consulting and Molly O'Connor is a Creative Evaluation subcontractor.
Using Creative Evaluation to Align & Strategically Plan a County-Level Healthcare For the Homeless Program
April 2022 - Nov 2022
With Inspire to Change, We used a CE&E Framework and a Delphi Process to collect data from staff, patients, and board members to assist a Healthcare for the Homeless (HCH) program with their 2023 Strategic Plan. Group interviews and Visual Matrix facilitations were used to elicit initial feedback, and findings were shared back to staff and patients via posters posted in clinics and outreach centers. This reporting method was decided because posters could move with mobile clinics. This data was used to plan an all-staff, board, and patient strategic planning retreat in Fall of 2022.
This project was hosted by the Inspire to Change and Molly O'Connor was a part-time Creative Evaluation employee
Current & Past Clients
King County Hazardous Waste Management Program
Public Health - Seattle & King County
University of Minnesota - Dept of Forest Resources
CYD Consulting & Habitat for Humanity (Twin Cities)
ACT Research
Inspire to Change
An image of a community convening for a creative evaluation project
Who We Are
Molly C. O'Connor is the founder and principal consultant at Coco Canary. Her specialties are Creative Evaluation & Engagement, principles-based approaches, community engagement, and radical facilitation (self and organizational equity work). She is brought into projects as a collaborative thought partner, creative strategist, and/or facilitator.
She has an M.S. in Natural Resources Science & Management with a minor in Evaluation Studies from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. As well as has a professional background in ecology, youth programs, human services, filmmaking, and museum education.
Molly is descended from strong, resilient, and creative women that came from Ireland, Norway, Finland, and Scotland. Currently, she is based in St. Paul, MN (the unceded lands of the Dakota people).
Fun Facts About Molly
- She is a filmmaker and cartoonist (pen & paper, not so much digital)
- She is a musician and released an EP in 2023 titled, "Coco Canary."
- She has an identical twin sister who lives in Washington, D.C.
- She lives in an intentional community with her partner and friends
- She loves to host gatherings & cook delicious food (predominantly vegetarian/vegan)
Meyers-Briggs: INFP
StrengthsFinder (CliftonStreangths): Empathy | Adaptability | Developer | Positivity | Arranger
Our Consulting Partners
Molly does not work alone. She has a team of talented subcontractors (evaluators, writers, artists, etc.) to call in when needed. See some of our partners below.
Sully Moreno
(she/her/hers)
Community Engagement Specialist
Sully Moreno is the founder and principal consultant at Culture Shift Consulting. She is a multilingual community engagement and communications professional. Her specialty is facilitating conversations, relationship-building, and translating concepts into actionable efforts.
She has an M.A. in Media and Communication Studies from Florida State University.
Sully is based in Seattle, WA (the stolen of the Duwamish, Coast Salish, and many more).
Click here to learn more about Sully and Culture Shift Consulting
Our Guiding Principles
Coco Canary is a principles-driven organization. This means we have guiding principles, which are values translated into actionable statements. They ground our thinking, inform our decision-making, and guide our actions.
Quiet
Strength
Lead from a place of quiet strength. Allow people to more deeply access their own quiet strength.
Gentle
Healing
Offer and hold space for gentle healing grounded in love, trust, and compassion.
Joyful
Connection
Bring people together through creativity, connection, and joy.
Radical
Engagement
Reflect, learn, and meaningfully engage in dismantling harmful systems within ourselves and our communities.
Strive For
Authenticity
Strive to let go of ego and live a life with openness, vulnerability, and authenticity.
Newsletters
Get up to speed with what Coco Canary has been up to by reading our newsletters.
The Coco Canary Newsletter October 2024 Summary: Photovoice project update, social justice grounding, recent publications, personal updates, GET OUT THE VOTE, and more! A selfie of people, including Molly, posing after a day of doorknocking in western Wisconsin. This photo was taken by a Standing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ)...
The Coco Canary Newsletter August 2024 Summary: Check out our 2023-2024 Annual Narrative, exciting business updates, civic engagement calls to action, our social justice grounding, personal updates, and more! A photo of Ilhan Omar speaking at a Standing up for Racial Justice Don't Agonize, Organize event. Photo taken by Molly...
The Coco Canary Newsletter May 2024 Summary: Exciting news! We have a big Community-Based Participatory Research project starting this summer with Sully Moreno and Public Health—Seattle & King County. In this project, we will use our creative evaluation, community engagement, and arts-based methods skills to co-lead community-led research! We will...
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How To Contact Us
Email us at moconnor@cococanary.com or fill out the form below. We look forward to hearing from you!
© Copyright 2024 Coco Canary Consulting, LLC
Photography: Dejá Jendro at On Display
Photography: Clarke Sanders at Clarke Creates
Logo: Henry DeGrand Design