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Local Evaluation News and Happenings
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Online Professional Development Workshop Series
August 14-22, 2020
Registration is now open for 18 one day online workshops this summer!
For the daily schedule and course descriptions please click here:
https://research.cgu.edu/claremont-evaluation-center/professional-development-workshops/workshop-descriptions/
There is limited enrollment so please register ASAP on a first come, first served basis using the link below: https://research.cgu.edu/claremont-evaluation-center/professional-development-workshops/summer-workshops-registration-rates-scholarships/
For any further questioms, please contact Jessica Renger (jessica.renger@cgu.edu) for more details.
Are you aware of Evalpalooza, an interactive online meeting that the Evaluation Association of St. Louis and the Chicagoland Evaluation Association are sponsoring? Our first Evalpalooza will be Evaluation Failures with Kylie Hutchinson and Thought Leaders. Evalpalooza is a 4 hour long focused, interactive, small, virtual session facilitated by evaluation thought leaders around a key topic. Sessions are limited to only 100 individuals (including presenters), are conducted via Zoom, and are interactive. (Yes, you are expected to interact!) Registration for Evalpalooza is open to the public.
The session will be held via Zoom Conference Calls on September 24, 2020 from noon – 4 p.m. CDT (with a virtual happy hour to follow). You can learn more and register at the following link:
https://easl.wildapricot.org/event-3870521
LEADING COURAGEOUSLY IN THE HUMAN SERVICE SECTOR 2020 SUMMER SERIES
The Summer Series continues to grow leaders to be versed in participatory practices that engage whole family systems, to lead with practices that are centered on the voices of those most impacted by racial and systemic injustice, and to engage our communities to create the changes that we need. No matter if you are a seasoned practitioner or are simply curious, we welcome you to join us. All workshops will be held virtually.
Through generous support from the Kresge Foundation, Future Services Institute is committed to making these workshops accessible for all who want to participate. Registration fees for each workshop:
Register Today
• $25 Pay it Forward (for well-resourced organizations, covering costs of this workshop and contribute to our scholarship pool) • $15 Nonprofit/Student (for smaller nonprofit organizations or students)
• $0 (For community or grassroots organizations who wouldn’t be able to participate without financial support)
ONLINE HOSTING PRACTICES THAT WORK JULY 21, 2020 from 9:00 am – 11:00 am Hosted by: Sook Jin Ong and Rosalva Mujwid Hernandez
ONLINE COLLECTIVE SENSE-MAKING JULY 29, 2020 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Hosted by: Marcela Sotela and Jen Mein
Planning and designing ways to engage participants to make meaning together, make collective insights visible, have artifacts to move forward wiser action. Use online tools to invite, capture and share all participants’ voices. Explore different levels of sensemaking from the individual to the larger collective through reflective practices. Let’s connect, share, and learn TOGETHER!
RESEARCH AND EVALUTION IN UNCERTAIN AND CHANGING TIMES AUGUST 10, 2020 10:00 am – 12:00 pm Hosted by: Henriet Hendriks and Trupti Sarode
OPEN SPACE SESSION ON EQUITY IN THE HUMAN SERVICES SECTOR TUESDAY, AUGUST 18th 1pm – 4pm Hosted by: Donte Curtis, Ashley Bennett, and Katie Boone
Given the era of COVID and the racial injustice of George Floyd’s murder, what are the conversations we need to have now to ground our systems change work towards creating equity, inclusion and justice for all?
COVID-19 has impacted us all in different ways. While many organizations are urgently responding to communities to provide support, others have put their work on hold or are making innovative adjustments to adapt to safe social distancing guidelines. Whether your work has evolved to respond to the pandemic, or you are finding yourself with extra time to dust off and update your old logic model, The Improve Group’s upcoming 4-hour virtual workshop on logic models can benefit you.
As you know, 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. With this workshop, The Improve Group will explain the “why” and “how” of using logic models! Following the workshop, you can register to spend additional one-on-one time working with our trainers to develop your logic model. Our training meets you where you are—no previous logic model 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!
Coming Soon: The Improve Group is introducing a training on survey planning and development, which will be held on August 19. We’ll follow-up with more details in the coming weeks but wanted to notify you of the date ahead of time!
Learn Together, While Apart
Register for the AEA Summer Learning Series
Inspired by the lessons of the Summer Evaluation Institute, AEA has transformed five of our Summer Evaluation workshops into in-depth and interactive digital workshops to support the continual learning and growth of our community.
What Makes the Summer Learning Series Different?
AEA is working hard to transform in-person workshop content into valuable digital workshops that have clear distinctions from typical webinars. The Summer Learning Series features:
Plan your summer education schedule with our five digital workshops:
Adding Costs to Help Your Evaluation Get Used: Cost-Effectiveness and Cost-Benefit Analyses for Health and Human Services
12:00 pm - 3:00 pm EST
See full description.
Mixed Methods Design in Evaluation
Interactive Dashboards Using Excel and Google Sheets
You Built it. Why Won’t They Come? Evaluation Capacity Building
Visual Note-Taking 101: Encouraging Dynamic Participation through Visual Storytelling
To participate in these digital workshops, all you need is a reliable internet connection and your computer or laptop. Presenters will communicate If additional materials are needed for their workshop.
Visit the AEA Digital Knowledge Hub to learn more about the Summer Learning Series and other upcoming offerings.
Please contact AEA at info@eval.org if you have any questions.
We’re now inviting more people to join the MERL Center working groups! If you are a MERL practitioner with an interest in or knowledge of open source, or you’re an open source expert with an interest in and knowledge of MERL, we’d love to have you! Please feel free to reach out me with a brief introduction to you and your work, and I’ll help you get on-boarded. We’re excited to have you work with us!
Learn More
Deep Dive with Michael Quinn Patton: Evaluation Implications of th Coronavirus Global Health Pandemic Emergency
Blog authored by MQPatton
March 23rd, 2020 Blog post on Blue Marble Evaluation
Click here to read the post
AEA continues to offer support to members and the evaluation community as a whole. We understand this is a strenuous and difficult time, and many are under significant financial strain.
For April, May, and June membership renewals, AEA will freeze renewal costs for 60 days upon request. If you are concerned about an upcoming membership renewal, please contact us at info@eval.org.
We encourage you to continue to take advantage of your member benefits, including:
Coffee Breaks As an AEA member, you have free access to our library of Coffee Breaks. These short, 20 minute webinars are great for sharing lessons with your colleagues, while you are apart.
eStudieseStudies are a great way to be immersed in top-of-mind evaluation themes and topics via an online course. Here are a few upcoming eStudies to consider exploring, offered at a discounted rate to members. You can also access recorded eStudies on the Knowledge Hub.
· Introduction to Independent Consulting (starting May 4, 2020)· Introduction to R (starting June 4, 2020)
Conference RecordingsAEA members now have free access to the Evaluation 2019 recordings. Review the Presidential Strand and Plenary sessions now to refresh your memory of what you've learned, or to catch up on sessions you may have missed.
AEA365AEA's daily blog, AEA365, includes a series of Saturday posts offering reflection and information for evaluation practice during this global pandemic.
Topics covered include:
· Self-Care in the Age of Coronavirus· Making it Work Online - A Rapid Response to COVID· Contactless Evaluation - (in Times of COVID-19) Click here to subscribe to AEA365. We will continue to share resources and experiences of our community.
EvalTalkAEA encourages you to turn to the evaluation community through EvalTalk. This discussion forum provides a safe space to trade insights and concerns, talk through specific challenges that are arising, and overall, to lean on each other for support. Now is the time to maintain strong connections worldwide and seek guidance in navigating today's climate.
Local AffiliatesConsider reaching out to an AEA affiliate for localized resources and support. AEA teams up with local affiliates as part of the Local Affiliate Collaborative, an effort designed to support, sustain, and strengthen affiliates by fostering joint and coordinated action among and between affiliates and AEA.
TIGsYou can also stay connected to your community through TIGs. Topical Interest Groups are defined around a certain topic or interest and create a forum enabling its members to become a resource that the entire community can leverage. This organized community and combined experience is needed now more than ever. As an AEA member, you are allowed to join up to five of the 60 Topical Interest Groups.
QUESTIONS? Reach out to us with any membership-related questions at info@eval.org or 202.367.1166.
Minnesota Council on Foundation’s Learning and Evaluation Roundtable (for staff at funding organizations)
DATE & TIME: Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 10:00am - 11:30am CDT
LOCATION: Webinar
ADMISSION FEE: $0.00
MEMBER ADMISSION FEE: $0.00
This is an exploratory meeting for Learning and Evaluation professionals working in funding organizations. At this roundtable, Learning and Evaluation professionals working in philanthropy will get to know each other, share about the work they are doing, and talk through questions and challenges with their peers. It is also an opportunity to start thinking about how Minnesota Council on Foundations (MCF) can best support Evaluation and Learning staff moving forward.
Register
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Minnesota Evaluation Association
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Website: www.mneval.org
Email: info@mneval.org
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