Greetings,
I’m Lauren Dixon (they/them) a queer emerging evaluator practicing in the Southern United States. I write this message to my future-self and for my colleagues whose hearts have felt heavy for some time now. The past years have brought to the forefront that our struggles are interrelated. Do the far-reaching tendrils make these issues seem too large to fight, too heavy to carry? Please know that there is no demand to fight it all at one time. You mustn’t strive for perfection nor go at this alone.
In the words of Izat Elamoor, “We shouldn’t let the occupation hold us hostage in areas of our own social and cultural progress.”
Fellow evaluators, I fear the unseen hazards below the water. We who curate, sense-make, and share data hold immense power and trust. Censorship is easily hidden between the lines in our reports. Community erasure, data violence, and manipulation will occur when we allow others to influence our results to only show positives, or to exclude certain identities, or when we neglect to investigate equity in our data.
Community is the life raft that will keep us afloat in these impending tides of change. We must reach for, learn from, and support one another.
Accountability to our practice standards and ethics will not come from an external force. Yet, these harms can only happen if we, the evaluators producing the work, allow them to. When navigating these challenges, do you feel firm in your stance or unsure of your grounding? Who’s available to guide you?
Hot Tips
- Connect with professional communities outside of your organizational and regional cultures
- When grappling with difficult conversations or ethical dilemmas, seek support from a variety of sources; mediation is not exclusive to evaluation
- Engage in conversation with TIG’s outside of your own, such as EvalReads
- Seek out or create opportunities to practice soft skills such as facilitation, mediation, conflict and project management
Rad Resources
- Learn more about Data Equity for free with We ALL Count’s community forum and webinar series
- Create a Data Biography to share what your data actually means
- Become an active member of a TIG and join the discussion.
Reflection
As I read the works of fellow evaluators, I find myself reflecting on their questions:
- Where are we making space for young evaluators to serve as co-leaders?
- Is our work embodying the belief that there is time, space, and page for solidarity and story?
- Are we creating “good health” stories with our work? In addition, are we challenging racism or exacerbating its impact?
Where is your community of care in this professional realm?
The American Evaluation Association is hosting LGBTQ+ TIG Week with our colleagues in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from our LGBTQ+ TIG members. 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. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.