Hello, my name is Nicolas Uwitonze, and I am a second year PhD student at the Department of Agriculture Leadership and Community Education at Virginia Tech, USA. In this blog, I would like to narrate a brief story of my journey towards becoming an independent consultant and to the field of evaluation. I will reflect …
Hi, I’m Alicia Kiremire, PMP, and in 2017 I became a forever fan of independent consulting. After all, I get to do meaningful work and have scheduled “Alicia days.” The freedom to protect my own mental health is why I stay independent; I cannot wait to tell you more. Lesson Learned Personal days prevent burnout. …
Hi! My name is Alli Shurilla. I’m the Founder and Lead Consultant of AS Community Consulting, a consulting firm based in Brooklyn, NY (Lenapehoking) focused on equity and community-based consulting in evaluation, strategic planning, DEIAB, organizational assessment, and coaching. I’m also the current social media chair for the IC TIG! When I first started my …
Hello! My name is Min Ma. I’m the Founder and Principal of MXM Research Group, a research and evaluation consulting firm whose work is grounded in data + soul (dataplussoul.com). I’m here to reflect on team collaboration in service of equitable evaluation and what this might look like when you’re a team of one. A …
Hello, I am Mindelyn Anderson, Founder + Principal of Mirror Group. I write today, on Juneteenth, a nascent Federal holiday commemorating freedom, to write on that very topic–freedom and mastery over our time as independent consultants (ICs). Hot Tip: Read Reality I have long battled with cycles of work, overwork and exhaustion. What I previously …
We are Jim Van Haneghan (Professor and Chair, Dept. of Counseling and Instructional Sciences, University of South Alabama) and David Reider (Principal Partner with eDUCATIONDESIGN). Over the past several years we have been part of a project that has examined a STEM summer camp that combines STEM and workforce development considerations in a population that …
Hello, we are Drs. Angelicque Tucker Blackmon and David Sul, independent evaluation consultants and members of the AEA STEM TIG. Historically, BIPOC candidates have been excluded at some point along their journey within the STEM ecosystem (Figure 1), which often results in STEM evaluators “othering” excluded BIPOC STEM program participants and categorizing them as different …
Hi there! My name is Linnea and I am a PhD Candidate in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As a member of the STEM TIG, I’m excited to share with you all a bit about a project I helped direct and our evaluation approach. The Short-Term Research Experience Program to …
Hello! My name is Callie Dean, and I am a program evaluator with The Evaluation Group, where I work on several projects related to STEM and computer science education. Because of the overwhelming need to expand and diversify the STEM workforce, many organizations have developed initiatives for K-12 students with the goal of increasing awareness …
Hello! My name is Kathy Dowell and I am an evaluator at The Evaluation Group. In my 25+ years as a program evaluator I have worked with many STEM-focused programs to assess student outcomes. Recently, I have worked with STEM projects that target young students (Grade K-8), and one challenge I have consistently run into …
