The nonprofit National Aquarium opened on August 8, 1981, and has served as an important anchor for Baltimore City and the State of Maryland. The Aquarium, consistently ranked as one of the nation’s top three aquariums, is Maryland’s largest paid tourist attraction, featuring thousands of fishes, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals living in award-winning habitats.

Following its strategic planning process, the National Aquarium engaged Brighter Strategies to design a replicable, organization-wide program evaluation and prioritization system. Brighter Strategies invited Sustainable Economies to partner on the project for our environmental economics and evaluation experience.

The work began with a review of existing programs, the strategic plan, and the Conservation Action Plan. Over five months, Brighter Strategies and Sustainable Economies partnered with the internal team to:

• develop a shared, overarching theory of change
• create logic models for each program cluster aligned to that theory
• identify the outcomes most critical to demonstrating impact.

In parallel, we collaborated with a cross-functional committee of program leaders to design a shared decision-making framework. The resulting tool applied clearly defined, ranked criteria grounded in the Aquarium’s strategy and values, enabling programs to be assessed and prioritized relative to one another in a transparent, practical, and consistent manner.

Building on this foundation, the consulting team developed an evaluation plan and measurement tools for each criterion. Mission-related impact was assessed through participant surveys, while all other criteria were measured using custom, evidence-based tools drawn from existing data. This approach enabled quantitative scoring and an overall prioritization of programs across the portfolio.

The process strengthened cross-program alignment and equipped leadership to make data-informed, values-driven decisions.

While the initial evaluation included 33 programs, the final report documents a scalable approach that the Aquarium can apply to additional programs and future years.