Julia Coffman
Systems change evaluator and field builder
Background
Julia Coffman (she/her) is an evaluator and strategist who has been working in philanthropy for the last three decades. She focuses on complex systems change, helping people to understand the systems in which they are working and where there are opportunities to unlock new patterns and possibilities. She positions learning and evaluation as an ongoing and integral part of systems change, exploring powerful questions that matter to system actors, seeing where there is traction and where course corrections are needed, and testing causal pathways and assumptions embedded in change processes.
In addition to her evaluation and strategy practice, Julia is committed to collaborative field building that supports learning and evaluation in philanthropy to advance more equitable and systemic social change. She is Editor-in-Chief of The Foundation Review, a peer-reviewed journal that shares evaluation results, tools, and knowledge about the philanthropic sector. She is also a co-founder and co-lead of the Causal Pathways initiative, which is helping foundations and evaluators explore causal relationships rooted in systems and complexity. Before that, Julia founded and then led the Center for Evaluation Innovation for 15 years, where she was a leader in building the policy and advocacy evaluation field.
At the School of System Change
With Jewlya Lynn, Julia is teaching two related courses on mental models in systems change in February 2025. One course is for philanthropic partners, recognising that power dynamics are part of how we navigate differences in mental models. The other is more generally focused for anyone engaging in systems change work.
