Connect. Learn. Community.
MNEA member tip: Go to the For Members page to view event materials and recorded webinars.
Join MNEA's series called "Making Connections," a low-key event prioritizing connection and community-building for our members. This series will have in-person and virtual opportunities. We also plan to rotate locations and times every month to make this event more accessible for folks who cannot make certain events due to time or transportation constraints.
The August 28 meeting will be at Gingko Coffee House in St. Paul.
The in-person event will be hosted by the MNEA presidents. When you get to the location, look for a table with a piece of paper with "MNEA" written on it. If the weather is nice, we will meet on the back patio.
There is street parking, a parking lot behind the coffee shop, and a small bike rack on Minnehaha Avenue. The coffee shop is on the A Line.
We look forward to connecting with you all!
Making Connections is going statewide in 2026! If you’d like to cohost an event in your community, contact us at info@mneval.org.
WELLNESS INFO: If we meet indoors, please bring masks (we will try to have some on hand). There is no expectation of wearing your mask indoors, but please have one on hand if it is requested by a fellow member. And, of course, do not attend if you are feeling unwell.
If you need any accommodations to participate, please let us know at least one week prior to the event. Thank you.
Join us to come and learn about how the upcoming MNEA UnConference on Evaluation and Collective Care will work. You’ll leave with a better understanding of the underlying methodology that holds our UnConference format; Open Space Technology. You’ll also be better prepared to engage at the October 7th UnConference, bringing your own questions forward to the field to create a shared space, place, time and relationship with participants to explore and inquire around what matters when it comes to our theme of evaluation and collective care.
Facilitator:
Katie Boone, Engagement and Qualitative Research Coordinator for the Economic Assistance and Employment Supports Division at the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Katie has over 20 years of experience working in and with communities. She is a seasoned practitioner and scholar, whose work is grounded in experiences from applying and stewarding Art of Hosting Conversations that Matter, she is also a certified Narrative Coach, Integrated Developmental Practitioner, and deep Regenerative Practitioner. Her roots are in community building and designing collaborative and transformative systems change.
She brings her lived experience as a teen mom to the work she does at the state. Katie believes in and has witnessed the power of story and lived experience from communities who experience poverty and inequity. She believes that by valuing the knowing that comes from lived experience, that it can truly honor the wisdom families and communities bring to help transform our systems toward more just policies and practices that are grounded in Place - and - help to ensure that all children, youth, and families can thrive. She seeks opportunities to design and implement place-sourced practices and approaches through experiential and developmental learning that builds the capabilities of people seeking to make transformational change. This is her calling: value driven work that is rooted in equity, justice, Place and community.
Please join us for MNEA’s Unconference 2026: Evaluation and Collective Care.
This year, Minnesota communities have experienced tremendous disruption, from Operation Metro Surge and the freezing of Medicaid funding, to investigations of fraud and federal demands for voter rolls and gender affirming care data. At a time when our community can experience sudden social disruptions and demands, evaluators must navigate new and heightened uncertainty, inequity, institutional strain, and questions of trust. We have an important role to play in nurturing learning, accountability, and community voice.
At MNEA’s Unconference 2026: Evaluation and Collective Care, we will interactively explore how evaluation practice can strengthen community bonds and relationships, elevate lived experiences, and contribute to more just and responsive systems. Participants will call and join conversations like:
What it means to practice evaluation with a collective care lens
Preventing burnout in evaluation work
Who trusts evaluation data and why
Using data to spark empathy
This all-day gathering will bring together evaluators, researchers, nonprofit leaders, public-sector professionals, healthcare practitioners, and community partners for collaborative learning and conversation.
Calling Question:
Knowing it is up to us, what are the conversations and care required of evaluators in this moment that will move us towards a more just and sustainable future that is grounded in MNEA values.
If you need any accommodations to participate or have questions, please email info@mneval.org. We are looking forward to seeing you!
CONNECT WITH US
Minnesota Evaluation Association
P.O. Box 581114,
Minneapolis, MN 55458
Email: info@mneval.org
Affiliate of American Evaluation Association since 2004
MNEA is a 501(c)6 organization
MNEA member tip: Go to the 
