Hello! We are Esrea Perez-Bill (she/her/they/them) with the EDIT Program at Northwestern University and Michael Petillo (he/him/they/them) with CES Partnership, LLC. We are emerging evaluators and creative researchers inviting you to coalition in radical solidarity with us against the othering/erasure of LGBTQ2S+ people (title invoking Gil Scott-Heron.

I’m Scar Winter Kelsey, a data analyst with the EDIT Program at Northwestern University. I invite my readers to investigate the double-edged sword of queer data collection and analysis and what it means for successful evaluation.

Queer representation in our data systems is becoming more prominent – but what does this mean for queer liberation? An increasing number of companies are letting users enter their pronouns, gender identity, and/or trans status on entry forms. This ranges from medical intake forms to bank forms. I see one of the benefits immediately: I feel safer pursuing medical care where the practitioners probably won’t misgender me. But, I feel safer knowing I’m not required to fill out these fields at all.

Hi all! My name is Michael Curtis (he/him), and I’m speaking (kind of) to you from the Evaluation, Data Integration, and Technical Assistance (EDIT) team at Northwestern University.

During 2020’s LGBT TIG week, my colleagues at EDIT wrote a piece focused on how important it was for evaluators to engage with the concept of intersectionality actively (see here). This year I want to dive deeper into what it means to apply this framework practically.

Positionality is a relatively new term for me but, apparently, I have lots of it.  I’m Carlos Romero from Apex in Albuquerque.  Our evaluation portfolio focuses on equity work– education, health, food, and housing programs.  I’m Latino. Gay. And, growing up, my family was on the wrong side of many social determinants of health. So, I’ve become a person of interest in the equitable evaluation movement. Today, I’ll share ideas from a presentation on BIPOC positionality which is also relevant to my positionality as a gay evaluator. When it comes to equity and diversity in evaluation, I believe the trajectory is right, but the pace and intensity are insufficient. What can be done?

Hello! We are Andrew Hartman, Brian Hoessler, Carolyn Camman and Vincent Tom – 2SLGBTQ evaluators from upper Turtle Island located throughout Western Canada. We’ve been exploring how our identities inform how we navigate our evaluation work as part of a submission for an upcoming journal issue on 2SLGBTQ evaluators and evaluation. Existing as queer has taught us how to enter and safely navigate new contexts while considering and viewing spaces from different viewpoints. We hope sharing some of our reflections informs you on bringing this approach into your praxis.

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 …

LGBTQ+ TIG Week: A Letter to Our Future Selves by Lauren Dixon Read More »