This is part of a two-week series honoring our living evaluation pioneers in conjunction with Labor Day in the USA (September 5).
My name is Andrea Guajardo, MPH, and I am the Director of Community Health at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System in San Antonio, Texas. I am also the co-Chair of the Multiethnic Issue in Evaluation (MIE) TIG and a founding member of the LA RED TIG.
Why I chose to honor this evaluator:
LA RED honors Mariana Enriquez, PhD as a Living Pioneer in Evaluation for her significant contributions to AEA and to her evaluation discipline. As a Program Evaluation Consultant, her work focuses on education and public health programs across Colorado.
Mariana was born and raised in Mexico City as one of seven siblings. She began her evaluation career in the United States as Program Director for a small non-profit while exploring the impact of parenting classes on Spanish and English-speaking families. This early experience in evaluation led to a deeper pursuit of evaluation as a career, and in doing so, has blazed a trail for Latinx evaluators and for those practicing evaluation in Latinx communities.
As a bilingual and bicultural evaluator, she has native knowledge of the communities in which she works and functions as a bridge – un puente – to the wider, mainstream community. Her perspective informs the unique discipline of Latinx evaluation and provides cultural translation and understanding between these two communities.
Mariana has been a member of the AEA Committee on Honors and Awards (2012 -2014) and was its 2013 Chair. She also served as Chair of the Pipeline Students program at AEA in 2008, and is currently a member of the American Journal of Evaluation Editorial Advisory Board. Her mentorship of the LA RED TIG provides support for continued personal and professional development of Latinx evaluators at AEA.
As an Independent Consultant, Mariana’s current work includes STEM and English Language Learning Education at local universities in Colorado and with a communications agency conducting a state-wide public health campaign. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Institute of Education Science, and the Department of Human Services.
Rad Resources:
- AEA Statement on Cultural Competence in Evaluation
- Historical Background Building Diversity Initiative Phase 1
- American Journal of Evaluation Editorial Board
Get Involved: To learn more about evaluation theory and practice by, for and with Latinx communities join LA RED by emailing lared.tig@gmail.com.
The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Labor Day Week in Evaluation: Honoring Evaluation’s Living Pioneers. The contributions this week are tributes to our living evaluation pioneers who have made important contributions to our field and even positive impacts on our careers as evaluators. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.