The Yucca Model: An Indigenous Logic Model Approach Integrating Cyclical Reflections and Ripple Effects Mapping to Foster Collaborative Engagement and Cultural Relevance: A Case Story
Journal Article
Overview
abstract
Designing culturally responsive programs requires evaluation approaches grounded in place, relationships, and community-defined values. This paper presents a case story of a community science engagement program across rural and Tribal communities. Guided by Indigenous evaluation principles, the program team developed the Yucca Logic Model, a place-based metaphor-based logic model grounded in the life cycle of the culturally and ecologically significant yucca plant. The Yucca Logic Model reflects an Indigenous, culturally grounded approach for program planning, implementation, reflection, and learning that centers a cyclical process contrasting the linear, backward design approach of Western logic models. The Yucca Model was evaluated through Ripple Effects Mapping, a participatory evaluation process, by adapting the yucca metaphor to support storytelling, visual mapping, and collective reflection. This approach surfaced intended and emergent outcomes, foregrounded relationships, and documented non-linear change over time. This case story offers a practitioner-oriented example of culturally responsive, metaphor-based evaluation aligned with Indigenous worldviews.
