I’m Ryan Watkins and I am a professor at George Washington University  Among other things, I maintain the needs assessment website www.needsassessment.org – which collects many needs assessment resources for you. 

Hi! My name is Madhawa “Mads” Palihapitiya. I am an evaluator, researcher, and lecturer at UMass Boston and the Principal Investigator on an evaluation of a set of mediation programs aiming to increase access to justice in Massachusetts. I’m sharing information on how to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in assessing needs and assets.

Hello! I am Jessica Osborne, Principal Evaluation Associate at the University of Mississippi Center for Research Evaluation. My role involves providing evaluation services for the higher education field, with projects located across the US, and my background includes not only evaluation but also experience working as a professor, administrator, and student success practitioner within numerous higher education contexts including community colleges, adult education, and R-1 institutions. I love working in evaluation and higher education and am passionately committed to helping students succeed by providing high-quality evaluation that improves student programs, and consequently student outcomes. One commonality I have seen across projects, positions, and institutions: we do not have a solid understanding of our students – who they are, what they need, what motivates them, why they struggle, why they succeed.

I’m Maurya West Meiers. I work at the World Bank as a Senior Evaluation Officer and am coauthor of A Guide to Assessing Needs: Essential Tools for Collecting Information, Making Decisions, and Achieving Development Results (free World Bank book).

Hello all! I’m Krista Grajo, the Research Coordinator at the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API-GBV). API-GBV is a nonprofit organization that provides culturally specific training and technical assistance to local programs that address domestic violence and sexual assault in Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities.

I’m Ryan Watkins and I am a professor at George Washington University  Among other things, I maintain the needs assessment website www.needsassessment.org – which collects many needs assessment resources for you. 

My name is Susana Morales, and I am the Senior Learning and Evaluation officer at the St. David’s Foundation. Our mission is to advance health equity in Central Texas through investment and action. We conduct Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) to more deeply understand our region’s health needs – particularly those faced by historically-underserved community members – and use these findings to inform our strategy, guide our investments, and work alongside our community to improve the region’s health and well-being to advance health equity.  My post today aligns well with this year’s AEA conference theme: Amplifying and Empowering Voices in Evaluation.