MNEA Community of Practice: Evaluation’s Philosophy and Today’s Weird World

A profession’s philosophy is the framework of ethics, values, norms, and beliefs that undergird its practitioners’ work, embodying what the community of practice holds sacred and influencing how they engage in practice.

The philosophy enshrined in AEA doctrine emphasizes utility, rigor, honesty, diversity, and continuous improvement, reflecting a commitment to high-quality, ethically defensible, and culturally responsive evaluation practice across multiple domains.

In this Community of Practice session, Doris Espelien will present findings from her dissertation research into the professional identity of American evaluators, which will be followed by discussion of attendees’ philosophies and how they show up in practice.

Finally, attendees will discuss how they are negotiating this very weird world in which the desire to provide comprehensive, context-situated data is at risk of being interpreted as biased and where clients are prohibited from using terms and phrases that are ubiquitous in this field.

We look forward to seeing you!

Doris Espelien is a freshly hatched PhD from the University of Minnesota's Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development program in the Evaluation Studies track.  She is an applied researcher and evaluator working in a variety of sectors for RAND Corporation and for her own consultancy, Bricolage Consulting.  She is fueled by annoyance and guided by pragmatism and equity, which is why she studied the professional identity of American evaluators.

Cost of the event: Free for members, $5 for non-members

If you need any accommodations to participate, please let us know at least one week prior to the event. Thank you.

The MNEA CoP meeting structure is designed to be flexible in order to meet attendee needs and busy schedules. Attend sessions if you want to connect regularly or just want to pop in here and there. All are welcome!