Connect. Learn. Community.
MNEA member tip: Go to the For Members page to view event materials and recorded webinars.
MNEA is very excited to welcome new members to the board in January 2026! Are you interested in sharing your skills and talents? Do you have questions about board roles and responsibilities? If so, please join us for a Q&A session. Board members will be available to answer any and all questions!
Open Board positions include:
President Elect (3 years)
Student Representative (1 year)
Please join us for a Making Connections event at the AEA conference in Kansas City, MO.
Making Connections prioritizes connection and community-building for our members. Please ask for the MNEA table when you arrive. Light refreshments will be provided.
Dr. Katie Boone will share the results of her dissertation titled "Putting Evaluation in its Place *In a Good Way." Her community-engaged research engaged 57 participants who were Elders, Riders, and settler-descendants that engaged with the 16-day ceremonial horse ride in the communities the ride rode through, as she followed along with the with the Makatoh Reconciliation and Healing Horse Ride in December of 2024.
Her research findings led to the evolution of a conceptual framework called the Makatoh Reconciliation and Healing Framework. This is a Place-sourced (not place-based) Dakota framework that is deeply connected to the ancestral homelands of the Dakota people.
Mahkato (Mankato), Mni Sota (Minnesota) is the site of the largest mass execution that has taken place on US soil. On December 26, 1862; 38 Dakota warriors were hanged by order of President Lincoln during the US Dakota Conflict / War. This is a Place where efforts towards reconciliation have been evolving in partnership for over 67 years. Participants who are interested in attending this session are encouraged to watch the Dakota 38 + 2 documentary to help get them grounded in the significance of the Place where this research and efforts has unfolded.
Her research started to develop an early iteration of a new theory for Regenerative Evaluation, a living systems approach to evaluation that works with Place as a participant.
How do evaluators work with Place?
What is the difference between Place-sourced and place-based approaches to evaluation?
What do these learnings have to offer for non-Indigenous evaluators who work in partnership and relationship with Indigenous communities?
Participants will leave with more questions than answers, new insights for who they are in relationship to who and where their work touches, and a additional resources for ongoing learning and resourcing.
Katie Boone, Qualitative Researcher and Community Engagement Coordinator, Economic Assistance and Employment Supports, Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Katie has over 20 years of experience working in and with communities. She is an integrated practitioner whose work is grounded in experiences from theArt of Hosting Conversations that Matter, as a certified Narrative Coach / Integrated Developmental Practitioner, and a deepRegenerative Practitioner. Her roots are in community building and designing collaborative and transformative systems change.
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 by emailing info@mnea.org. 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!
Curious about how AI can support your evaluation work? Join us for Prompting Possibility, a hands-on, one-hour online workshop for Minnesota evaluators. Bring a project, try out AI tools, and learn how prompt architecture can help you work smarter, communicate more clearly, and reflect equity in your evaluation practice. No prior experience required—just bring your curiosity and a project to explore!
This interactive, one-hour online workshop introduces Minnesota evaluators to the practical and creative use of artificial intelligence (AI) in evaluation work. Designed for participants ranging from beginners to proficient users, the session centers on active learning and hands-on experimentation with AI prompt architecture. Attendees will bring a current evaluation project and explore how AI tools can generate honed, accessible, and functional improvements to their work—from refining language and visualizing data to drafting reports and stakeholder communications.
Grounded in a commitment to equity and antiracist practice, the workshop invites participants to consider how AI can support inclusive evaluation design and communication. Together, we’ll explore how prompt architecture can scale from basic to advanced use, and how AI can be leveraged to reduce barriers, amplify underrepresented voices, and reflect diverse stakeholder needs. The session leader will collect feedback and use AI to generate two tools that summarize collective learning—demonstrating AI’s capacity to synthesize and reflect evaluator insights. AI will be both the topic and the method, offering a dynamic and participatory experience.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Understand the basics of AI prompt architecture and its relevance to evaluation practice.
Apply AI tools to a current evaluation project to explore improvements in clarity, accessibility, and functionality.
Evaluate the effectiveness of AI-generated outputs in supporting evaluation goals, including equity-focused outcomes.
Collaborate in a shared learning environment to generate collective insights using AI.
Reflect on ethical, inclusive, and practical considerations of integrating AI into evaluation workflows.
Ruthanne Soohee Kim is Director of the Community Antiracism Education Initiative (C.A.R.E.) at St. Cloud State University and teaches Philosophy at Minneapolis College. Her work bridges feminist philosophy, environmental ethics, and decolonial studies, with a focus on equity in education and antiracist AI. A former Chancellor’s Fellow for Academic Equity Strategy, she brings lived experience and scholarly insight to inclusive teaching and evaluation practice.
If you need any accommodations to participate, please let us know at least one week prior to the event by emailing info@mneval.org. Thank you.
Join us for the MNEA Annual Business Meeting and End of the Year Making Connections at La Doña Cervecería Brewery in Minneapolis. MNEA will provide appetizers. Beverages and food will be available for purchase at the venue.
During the MNEA Annual Business Meeting, we will share the findings from the September unconference, reflect on last year’s activities, and provide programming, membership, and finance updates. We will also introduce the newest board members. Following the formal meeting, we’ll have time for connection and fun!
Please register by Monday, November 24.
Join the research specialists from the University Survey and Assessment Services (USAS), an internal service organization at the University of Minnesota office for a practical and engaging discussion on maximizing the impact of your qualitative projects.
In this session, Femi Ogunleye and Mark Miazga will share the USAS Focus Group Blueprint—a reliable methodology for designing, executing, and analyzing high-impact focus groups. Grounded in years of experience supporting university and community clients, this approach reflects the American Evaluation Association’s core competencies in methodology and context-responsive planning and management. Moving beyond basic moderation, we will dive into the strategies our team uses to convert raw group conversation into clear, actionable insights for clients.
What You Will Gain:
This is a key opportunity for research professionals, program evaluators, and project managers to refine their qualitative skills and discuss the future of effective focus group research.
If you need any accommodations to participate, please let us know at least one week prior to the event. Thank you.
Mark Miazga
Director, University Survey and Assessment Services
Mark has over twenty years of experience in survey research with a concentration in higher education, student experience, public health, and health and human services. He has managed numerous large-scale data collection and analysis projects including the University of Minnesota System Pandemic Response Project, Student Experience at the Research University, Grand Challenges Research Initiative, and State of Minnesota Long-Term Care Project. He has published and presented on numerous topics in survey research including on optimization of response rates, multi-mode data collection, and questionnaire design.
He is currently the Director of the University of Minnesota Survey and Assessment Services (USAS) and chairs the university system’s University Survey Advisory Team (U-SAT). He was previously with Wilder Research where he worked on projects for non-profits and government agencies including te Homelessness in Minnesota Study. He is a former City Councilmember for the City of Falcon Heights, former board member with Northeast Youth and Family Services (NYFS), former chair of the City of Falcon Heights Environment Commission and recently published his third book on Northern Wisconsin history.
He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Gerontology from the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire and a JD from Mitchell Hamline School of Law in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Femi Ogunleye
Research and Project Management Specialist, University Survey and Assessment Services
Femi is a research and evaluation professional with over 10 years of experience designing and managing mixed-methods studies in higher education. His work spans institutional research, program evaluation for grant-funded initiatives, and stakeholder engagement across complex systems. He currently serves as a Research and Project Management Specialist at the University of Minnesota’s Survey and Assessment Services (USAS), where he manages multi-modal research projects for both internal university clients and external partners.
He specializes in qualitative methods, particularly focus group research, as a tool for gathering in-depth, contextual data. Due to his expertise and interest in this area, he serves as the lead project manager for focus group projects at USAS. In this role, he has developed and refined approaches that employ utilization-focused strategies to elevate participant voices and enhance stakeholder engagement in the research process. Examples of his recent focus group work include a system-wide study on student employment and well-being, a college-level series on recruitment and outreach, and a hands-on training workshop for early-career researchers.
He holds a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration and a bachelor’s in Business Management from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He is completing a Ph.D. in Comparative and International Development Education at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities.
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 
