Critics of empowerment evaluation have consistently argued that to separate the fields of participatory and empowerment evaluation, there is a need to empirically validate the relationship between evaluation activities and empowerment outcomes (Patton, 1997). While evaluators have identified the current practices designed to promote empowerment (Miller & Campbell, 2006), these processes represent only a portion of what psychological researchers have deemed necessary to facilitate empowerment. Additionally, there is a need to validate the types of outcomes expected of empowerment evaluation designs, and identify the different outcomes that exist for adult and youth participants. The purpose of this presentation is to (1) examine the processes and outcomes unique to participatory and empowerment approaches based on evaluation literature, (2) explore the contributions that psychological research on empowerment theory can provide to evaluation practice, and (3) discuss the implications of these findings for evaluators. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or want to discuss this topic further.#Collaborative,ParticipatoryandEmpowermentEval #2011Conference