DOI
10.9707/1944-5660.1758
Key Points
Dominant Western ideology limits our understanding of and engagement with time, representing it as a linear two-dimensional arrow that moves forward in one direction from the past to the future. Viewing the past, present, and future as distinct and disconnected phases can hinder the growth and improvement of organizations working on building their evaluation capacity.
In contrast to Western notions of time, Indigenous cultures of the Americas and Africa understand the interconnectedness of all aspects of being, that our experiences are more cyclical, where birth leads to death and death to rebirth. The Sankofa principle, rooted in Akan philosophy, states to go back and retrieve what has been lost.
Time travel as a methodological practice to build evaluation capacity is a five-phased interconnected cycle grounded in the principle of Sankofa and inspired by Afrofuturism. In theory, it challenges organizations to move beyond linear time and to engage in cyclical, reflective, and transformative practices that build evaluation capacity.
In practice, organizations successfully analyze themselves in their work, develop trust with fellow travelers (i.e., teammates), learn the impact of oppressive laws and practices on current social contexts, and ultimately develop a plan to transform their organizations from within.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Alexander, L. (2026). Disrupting the Time Space Continuum: Time Travel as Methodological Practice for Building Evaluation Capacity. The Foundation Review, 18(2). https://doi.org/10.9707/1944-5660.1758
Included in
Nonprofit Administration and Management Commons, Public Administration Commons, Public Affairs Commons, Public Policy Commons
