Dear Colleagues,

Evaluation researchers at the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are seeking evaluators who do community-based work to participate in a phone interview regarding the influence of gatekeeping on evaluation practice. If you participate, you will be asked questions regarding your work. Results of the interview will inform our growing theory of gatekeeping in evaluation practice that may play a role in promoting or limiting inclusivity. These results will be reviewed only by researchers or research assistants involved in the study and employed by UW-Madison.

If you decide to participate, you do not have to answer any question in the interview that you do not wish to answer.  The information you provide will be kept completely confidential and anonymous.  Individuals will not be identified. The interview should take about 30 - 60 minutes to complete.

I hope you will consider sharing your valuable perspective and experiences with us!

Questions concerning the project and the interviews should be directed to:

Travis R. Moore
Ph.D. Student in Civil Society & Community Research
Project Assistant with the Center for Community & Nonprofit Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Cell: 512-914-4880 | trmoore2@wisc.edu

Washington Evaluators is extending complimentary webinar registration to members of AEA Local Affiliates for R for the Rest of Us Roadshow with David Keyes. The webinar will be held on Sept. 26 at 2-3pm (Eastern).

In anticipation of the upcoming Introduction to R workshops (https://rfortherestofus.com/dc/), David will conduct a free webinar for Washington Evaluators and local affiliates that will help members learn more about R and decide whether they are ready to start their R journey.  Log-in as a MNEA member to get the webinar registration code here:

Member Discount Codes

Registration

In this presentation, David will discuss reasons why R is worth the effort it takes to learn. These include fast, efficient, and reproducible data analysis, high-quality data visualization, and doing everything from data importing to final reporting in a single tool. The presentation will include an overview of what R is, how it works, and what it can do for you.

This webinar, titled Demystifying R: A Guided Tour, will be similar to David's recent AEA coffee break presentation, one of the most popular coffee breaks ever with over 400 registrants.

About David

David Keyes has over a decade of experience conducting research and evaluation. During this time, he has led the Mexican Migration Field Research Program (https://ccis.ucsd.edu/programs/migration-research-and-training.html) at the University of California, San Diego, conducted evaluation work as part of the Oregon Community Foundation research team (https://www.oregoncf.org/news-resources/research), and served as a data visualization consultant (https://dgkeyes.com/) to other researchers and evaluators, helping them to improve the quality of their data visualization. In recent years, David has also trained evaluators (and others) to use R, the most powerful tool for data analysis and visualization, as the founder of R for the Rest of Us. (https://rfortherestofus.com/)

We look forward to seeing you there!

Become a 2019 AEA Conference Sponsor! Sponsorship offers you a unique way to enhance the conference experience for the attendees, highlight your products and services, connect with Evaluation 2019 attendees, support AEA and the evaluation field, and increase brand recognition for your business or organization among national and international evaluators. The information outlined in the prospectus represents example sponsorship opportunities and benefits. AEA welcomes the opportunity to work with you to identify a sponsorship that meets your goals and needs.  Learn more by reading the: 

Evaluation 2019 Display and Sponsorship Prospectus

MN Evaluation Association network is invited to the 12^th Annual Public Performance Conference. Taking place September 26^th-27^th, 2019 in Boston, the event’s purpose is to examine and discuss pioneering performance management models and innovative uses of data in the adoption and implementation of compelling public sector practices.

They also welcome submissions from our membership to present at the conference; to learn more and see the coupon code for 20% of registration for MNEA members click here.

This year, the Minnesota International NGO Network (MINN) is hosting the 7th annual MINN Summit on Friday, November 1 at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. The conference will feature Semhar Araia, Managing Director of Diaspora and Multicultural Partnerships at UNICEF USA. Ms. Araia is also the founder of DAWN, Diaspora African Women’s Network, a global network whose mission is to support and help develop the next generation of African diaspora professional women focused on African affairs. Previously, Ms. Araia served as a diaspora engagement technical advisor to communities, governments, international organizations and non-profit organizations, including the African Union and the United Nations.

The Summit also hosts multiple smaller breakout sessions designed to help NGO representatives exchange and learn best practices, share insights and resources about local, national, and cross-national trends in the field. A day-long program embodying MINN’s mission, the Summit is a space for social interaction and networking, as well as professional development. MINN harnesses the talents of its volunteers and community to prepare global citizens to do humanitarian work abroad for good, better.

Learn more about the Summit at https://www.minnesotangos.org/summit 

The MNEA/AEA 2019 Local Area Workgroup (LAWG) on Local Arrangements/ Diversity/ Welcoming/Fun Committee is seeking volunteers to aid with the following tasks:

1) Join a committee to help create a guide (printed and electronic) for conference attendees showcasing the many local restaurants, landmarks and other tourist attractions in the Twin Cities.

2) Join a committee to help create Sustainable Tours of the area.  We want to encourage conference attendees to use public transportation to see local attractions. We are developing easy-to-use maps showcasing attractions that are along the light-rail transit Blue and Green lines as well as bus routes.

Join the fun and meet new people! Please email Sarah Lindeman at info@mneval.org if you are interested. 

The Minnesota State Survey can provide you with answers to your research questions about Minnesotans. It allows you to ask up to 10 questions of a representative sample of Minnesota residents. We’ll collect the data and give you a detailed report of their responses and demographic information.

This fall we will begin the 37^th annual Minnesota State Survey. It is a telephone omnibus survey, where many clients participate by buying into a larger survey and sharing the costs. This allows for significant cost savings without compromising the quality of the data.

Assistance is provided to all participating organizations about the best way to word questions and most appropriate scales to use to measure responses.

Space for the 2019 Minnesota State Survey is limited. Join the survey today. 

Learn More

View examples of past survey questions.

We are excited to announce that this August, Claremont Evaluation Center is offering its annual Professional Development Workshops, which provide working professionals and students with world-class practical and theoretical training in evaluation and applied research.

This year’s workshop series is scheduled for August 14-18, and will feature 14 seminars covering various topics in Evaluation and Research Methods. Taught by leading academics and seasoned practitioners, this workshop series can be experienced onsite at Claremont Graduate University, or wherever you are, thanks to highly interactive online webcasts. 

To see a full list of the workshops and to register, go to: https://research.cgu.edu/claremont-evaluation-center/professional-development-workshops/workshop-descriptions/