ALOHA is Intelligence

The Aloha Evaluation Framework is a culturally responsive evaluation approach that has been developed for use in Indigenous communities. Guided by the concept of Aloha (love) as conceptualized by kūpuna (elder) ʻAnakē Pilahi Pāki, the framework is based on the values of respect, empowerment, collaboration, and sustainability, and emphasizes the importance of building evaluation capacity within the community. Aloha is defined as Akahai (gentleness), Lōkahi (harmony), ʻOluʻolu (agreeableness), Haʻahaʻa (humility) and Ahonui (patience); the synthesis of which describes different attributes of love and ultimately the spirit of Aloha. This paper describes the use of the Aloha Evaluation Framework as an approach in an evaluation capacity building effort within a Native Hawaiian serving organization. The positive feedback from the evaluation training series demonstrates the value of incorporating Aloha and its various forms of love into evaluation as a practice. The results have implications for ways to privilege the values and voices of Indigenous communities in evaluation.