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/

Please join Washington Evaluators for a demo of the

Self-Sufficiency Research Clearinghouse

The Self-Sufficiency Research Clearinghouse (SSRC) is an ever growing virtual portal of research on low-income and TANF families and an online hub for professional networking among researchers, policymakers and practitioners who serve these populations. The SSRC aims to improve policy and practice in such areas as employment, education and training, and family self-sufficiency by improving access to field-tested, evidence-informed and evidence-based program strategies and high-quality research and by fostering professional connectivity among its targeted audiences. To access over 7,400 reports, datasets, journal articles, conference papers, federal publications, and more, visit the SSRC Library.

This demo will show how to best use the SSRC for the work that you do as a researcher, policymaker, practitioner, or for any other reason you are looking for high quality research on low-income populations.

The event is free, but there are limited spaces for non-members.

We look forward to seeing you there!   

WHEN: July 25, 2019, 12-12:30 pm

WHERE: Online- information provided after registration in reminder email

Registration Link and Code go to For Member Promo Code webpage

The application will open on June 3rd and will close on July 8^th.

AEA Conference 2019
This year, MNEA has the opportunity to be the local affiliate host site for AEA's annual conference in November. This event brings together more than 4,000 evaluators from around the world to discuss the theory and practice of evaluation. The theme for the 2019 meeting is: Paths to the future of Evaluation: Contribution, Leadership, Renewal. Learn more here.

MNEA Scholarship Opportunity for AEA Conference 2019
Thanks to a generous grant from the Bush Foundation, the MNEA Board is able to provide scholarships for underrepresented evaluators and evaluation users to attend AEA 2019. Receiving the scholarship will cover the AEA conference registration and a one-year AEA membership and a one year MNEA membership (if not already an AEA/MNEA member). The remainder of the scholarship funds are to be used at the recipients's discretion for expenses such as food, transportation, lodging, or childcare during the conference.

Apply Here

Preview the Application Here

Eligibility Requirement

• Must be a resident of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, or a Native Nation that shares those geographies
• Must 18 years of age or older

• Applicants from greater Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa,  or the Native Nations that shares these geographies
• People of color and Indigenous people, people who identify as LGBTIQ, people with disabilities, and other underrepresented identities
• Students (anyone currently enrolled as a student at the time of application submission)
• First time AEA conference attendees

Please note:  Scholarship recipients will need to provide proof of registration for the conference and should plan to attend a Scholarship Brunch on the opening day of the conference, Wednesday, November 13. 

About MNEA
The Minnesota Evaluation Association (MNEA) is a 501c6 tax exempt membership organization that primarily serves its members, with a mission to promote and improve the theory, practice, understanding, and use of evaluation and its contribution to the Minnesota community and the neighboring regions. Our work is led and managed by a volunteer working Board of Directors, and supported by over 300 active members, which includes professional evaluators, evaluation users, evaluation funders, and evaluation students. We organize professional development and networking events, serving the local evaluation community for over 33 years. We have been a local affiliate of the American Evaluation Association (AEA), the largest professional evaluation organization in the world, since 2004. Learn more about MNEA here.

June 9 - 12, 2019 in Atlanta, GA
American Evaluation Association Summer Institute

Logic models are instrumental in guiding evaluation and reporting activities. They can also help your team build consensus around assumptions and create cohesion about how you think about and communicate your program.

Join The Improve Group in taking inspiration from Marie Kondo to tidy up how you consider your program’s impact, realize what’s holding you back, and spark joy! With this half-day workshop, The Improve Group will teach you the “why” and “how” of using logic models to transform your program or organization into a well-oiled machine, clutter-free! Following the workshop, you can register to spend additional time working together to develop your logic model. Our training meets you where you are—no previous logic model (or tidying up) expertise required.

For more information on the benefits of having a logic model, check out this video from IG CEO Leah Goldstein Moses!

If this sounds like something that would benefit your program or organization, you can learn more and register here!

TCRG Brown Bag Speaker Series on Wednesday, May 15, 2019, 12:00 to 1:00 PM

Topic: Cognitive Interviewing: It WILL Improve Your Questionnaire.

Cognitive interviewing is one of the qualitative tools methodologists use to combat measurement error in questionnaire design.  This presentation will review the psychological response mechanism respondents use when completing a questionnaire, review some commonly used approaches to cognitive interviewing in questionnaire design, and give some examples of how survey instruments have been improved through the use of cognitive interviewing. 

Featured Presenter: Rob Daves is owner and principal of Daves & Associates Research. He is a Fellow and Past President of Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research.

Where: Wilder Foundation
451 Lexington Parkway, Saint Paul, MN 55104 
On the MetroTransit Green Line: Lexington Station

TCRG has implemented a membership program, with registration priority for dues-paying members. If you are a 2019 paid member, use the Eventbrite "Promotional Code" -- emailed separately -- to access Member ticketing.