MNEA’s Unconference 2026: Evaluation and Collective Care

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.

Additional details and updates will be shared in the coming months.

If you need any accommodations to participate or have questions, please email info@mneval.org.  We are looking forward to seeing you!