PRAXIS – Building Knowledge for Action – works with organizations and groups to help them find and create the knowledge they need to improve their services and projects, to envision and develop new ones, and to take informed action to address change. We achieve these goals through program evaluation, community-based research, educational workshops, and other specialized services.
prax • is / [prak-sis] -noun
  • 1. synthesis of theory and practice in which each informs the other.
  • 2. translating an idea into action.
  • 3. practical application of a theory.

PRAXIS is based on the following principles:

  • Learning in change processes happens through respectful dialogue that values difference.
  • A key evaluation criterion is the participation of people in the fact finding and solution building processes that most directly concern their lives.
  • Evaluation is a collaborative learning process done with rather than to others.
  • In hard times, organizations that survive and thrive are those whose culture supports asking hard questions.
  • As human beings capable of creative thought, we have the capacity, through thought, action, and interaction, to shape and change our worlds, our organizations, and ourselves.

Maxine Jacobson

Maxine Jacobson, PhD

PRAXIS was created in 2007 by Maxine Jacobson, PhD, researcher, community organizer, program evaluator, educator, and scholar. Maxine began her career as an educator and later completed masters’ degrees in counseling and social work. She has administrated both nonprofit and for-profit organizations. She earned her PhD in social work from the University of Utah in 1997 where her interest in participatory forms of research, program evaluation, and community organizing developed.

Maxine has taught courses on community-based participatory research, program evaluation, community organizing, and group work. She conducts community-based participatory research, consults with communities and organizations on how to design models and implement strategies for community assessment and program evaluation, and she educates community groups on topics that include community organizing, community-based participatory research, project and program evaluation, facilitating effective meetings, and interorganizational team and coalition building.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society
  • National Community Food Security Coalition
  • American Evaluation Association
  • Association for the Advancement of Social Work with Groups
  • Association for Community Organizers and Social Administration
  • Social Welfare Alliance

PRAXIS HAS RECENTLY WORKED WITH:

  • Missoula Community Food Co-op (MCFC)
  • North Missoula Community Development Corporation (NMCDC)
  • Bureau of Business and Economic Development – University of Montana
  • Women’s Opportunity and Resource Development, Inc. (WORD)
  • Kellogg Food and Fitness Project – Salish Kootenai College (SKC)
  • City of Missoula – Office of Neighborhoods
  • Montana Food Bank Network
  • Lake County Community Development Corporation
  • Montana Food Security Coalition
  • Sustainable Lives Project