Aaniin indinawemaaganag (Hello friends/colleagues). I’m Elizabeth Taylor-Schiro/Biidaabinikwe (St. Croix Chippewa/Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe), Independent Evaluation and Research Consultant, Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Minnesota, and co-chair of AEA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Working Group. Over this past week, our DEI Working Group members have taken the opportunity to share some pieces of the …

AEA’s DEI Working Group Week: Collaborative Learning and Leading: An Exchange of Resources by Elizabeth Taylor-Schiro/Biidabinikwe Read More »

Greetings from Vidhya Shanker, co-chair with Nisaa Kirtman and Elizabeth Taylor-Schiro of AEA’s DEI Working Group, along with Ayesha Boyce and Libby Smith. With all the recent hubbub around “DEI,” have you ever wondered where the US field of evaluation was when previous reminders of extreme inequality, polarization, and systemic oppression unfolded—before COVID and the …

AEA’s DEI Working Group Week: The Power of Perspective: Generations of Evaluators Generating Change by Vidhya Shanker, Ayesha Boyce, and Libby Smith Read More »

Hi there! I’m Jen Heeg (she/they), an independent consultant who is convinced that complexity awareness can help highlight issues of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and ideally help transform power relations with a focus on justice.  This conviction led me to the DEI Working Group, where I have found a lot of kindred spirits. We vary …

AEA’s DEI Working Group Week: Applying Complexity & Equity Principles in Our Collective Work by Jen Heeg Read More »

As current members of the AEA DEI Working Group, we also serve as subgroup committee members dedicated to DEI-related metrics & assessments: Nisaa Kirtman, Senior Research Associate at Rockman et al. Cooperative Inc; Leah Q. Peoples, independent consultant at Transformative Research; Ayesha Boyce, Associate Professor at Arizona State University, Dylan Felt, Research Project Manager at …

AEA’S DEI Working Group Week: Using Metrics & Assessments for Transformative Equity at AEA: Reflections on our Journey by Nisaa Kirtman, Leah Q. Peoples, Ayesha Boyce, Dylan Felt, and Stephen Maack Read More »

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”  Maya Angelou We are Asma Ali, James Groh, Diana Lemos, Katayahynee Murray, David Sul, and Elizabeth Taylor–Schiro. Collectively, we are serving as members of the AEA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Working Group and participating on the subgroup charged …

AEA’s DEI Working Group Week: DEI Through an Emergent Liberatory Analysis of AEA’s Policies, Practices, and Procedures by Asma Ali, James Groh, Diana Lemos, Katayahynee Murray, David Sul, and Elizabeth Taylor-Schiro Read More »

Greetings from Jen Heeg, Donna Mertens, Esther Nolton, Vidhya Shanker, and Libby Smith. Together, we are developing AEA’s updated DEI statement. In fulfilling Charge #1, we found ourselves resorting organically to cooking metaphors. While not premeditated, upon reflection, we appreciated and began intentionally cultivating the metaphor because it honors types of knowledge and work that …

AEA’s DEI Working Group Week: A DEI Statement that Feeds Transformation In, Through, and Around Evaluation by Jen Heeg, Donna Mertens, Esther Nolton, Vidhya Shanker, and Libby Smith Read More »