Uncategorized

Greetings from VentureWell! We are Stefanie Leite and Olivia Noel, serving as evaluators on the Data Intelligence team. VentureWell is a national nonprofit headquartered in Hadley, Massachusetts, that specializes in funding, training, and cultivating a pipeline of science and technology inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Together with our partners, we are driven to solve the world’s …

What Evaluators Can Learn From The Lean Startup by Stefanie Leite and Olivia Noel Read More »

Hello! I am Samantha Langan, a Senior Data Intelligence Analyst with VentureWell’s Data Intelligence team. VentureWell is a national nonprofit headquartered in Hadley, Massachusetts, that specializes in funding, training, and cultivating a pipeline of science and technology inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Together with our partners, we are driven to solve the world’s biggest challenges and …

Anchors Away! Navigating the Evaluation of STEM Innovation & Entrepreneurship Programming by Samantha Langan Read More »

Hello! I’m Jacki Purtell, Senior Data Intelligence Analyst with VentureWell’s Data Intelligence team. VentureWell is a national nonprofit headquartered in Hadley, Massachusetts, that specializes in funding, training, and cultivating a pipeline of science and technology inventors, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Together with our partners, we are driven to solve the world’s biggest challenges and create positive …

Driving Innovation with Developmental Evaluation by Jacki Purtell Read More »

Hello friends!  I’m Lauren Wendling, PhD, and I am deeply passionate about recognizing and rewarding faculty who leverage their time, talent, and skills to advance community-identified issues.  I was excited to share some of my work with AEA colleagues at 2023’s annual conference but life (and a new baby!) got in the way!

“What are you going to do after you get your degree?” – this is the most common question a student gets during their years of study.  As a doctoral student studying Higher Education at Indiana University who was considering various post-degree pathways, I questioned where my work would have the most impact.  Currently, as a freshly minted PhD, I am very happily situated in the edtech field, at Collaboratory, where I assist institutions collect and strategically leverage community engagement data to advance campus and community efforts.

Greetings! We are Rugi Kane and Susan Igras, evaluators working across cultures and countries and recent facilitators of the AEA Professional Development Workshop in Portland, “Let’s Slay those adolescent and youth-focused program evaluations! Crucial concepts in planning evaluations and integrating meaningful youth engagement approaches and methods.”

We, Thomas Scialfa, Alaa Issa, and Tom Clark, work with the Mercy Corps Global Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) team based in Louisiana, USA; Amman, Jordan; and Edinburgh, Scotland, respectively. We are excited to share the critical importance of using a Scope of Work (SoW)/Terms of Reference (TOR) checklist when commissioning or leading midterm or final evaluations. Using this tool is helping us substantially improve the quality and effectiveness of our evaluations. 

Hello! We are Nicole Walshe (Independent Consultant), Marta Arranz (Director, Climate SMILE Community of Practice), Amelia Abdelrazik (Director of Operations and Impact at 128 Collective), and Anna Ploeg (Community and Communications Manager, Climate SMILE Community of Practice). We have teamed up under the Climate SMILE Community of Practice to explore how climate funders can support collective learning and equitable knowledge for climate action, and we are delighted to share with this community what we have been learning.