The May 13 Group

The May 13 Group is an emerging ecosystem—a solidarity economy—oriented toward and energized by epistemic* healing and wholeness in, through, and around evaluation. We are building power together and actively shaping our world through structurally-focused collective action. The May 13 Group is not a magic method or approach. It’s not about “doing no harm.” It’s about undoing harm. Drawing on transformative justice, it organizes folx participating in, staffing, and reflecting on programs through: * Counter storytelling: Acts of remembrance to share histories and narratives that challenge (neo)liberalism and (post)positivism, which evaluation suppresses * Consciousness raising: Political education to expose racial and gendered capitalism in relation to evaluation’s role in NPIC * Livelihood development: Material infrastructure for a knowledge economy that decentralizes and redistributes power As an emerging ecosystem, TM13G is a steppingstone—part of a Just Transition—toward a vision where those most harmed by the current economy democratically decide how we create, share, and use knowledge. Unlike all other interventions into evaluation, which were initiated by philanthropy for philanthropy, TM13G is built by and for folx participating in programs, staffing programs, and facilitating reflection on programs. We recognize these groups not perpetual protégés, but rather as protagonists with ideas about collective action, cooperative economics, and mutual aid. *ep·i·ste·mic/ˌepəˈstēmik,ˌepəˈstemik/ adjective (philosophy) relating to knowledge or its validation