Career Pathways in Evaluation

The Minnesota Evaluation Association (MNEA) is excited to invite you to a special panel event on “Career Pathways in Evaluation”.

Whether you’re a student just getting started, an early-career professional finding your direction, or an experienced evaluator looking to grow, this session is designed to support you. You’ll hear firsthand from a panel of Minnesota-based evaluators currently working in the sectors of government, philanthropy, healthcare, academia and consulting.

Our panelists will share their career journeys, highlight the skills that matter most, and offer practical, real-world advice for shaping a meaningful and rewarding career in evaluation.

Come join us to connect, learn, ask questions, and get inspired about what’s possible in your evaluation career. We’d love to see you there!

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

Presenters:

Dr. Amy Dorman serves as the Research Director for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. In this role, Amy has overseen the re-establishment and tripling in size of OJP’s research unit. Amy directs the research and evaluation activities of OJP, including conducting legislatively mandated studies, the building and implementation of internal evaluation structures, and providing evaluation technical assistance for the hundreds of grantee organizations supported by OJP.

Previously, Amy served as a Researcher at the University of Minnesota Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare, where she led interdisciplinary research studies and built an evaluation framework for a national nonprofit organization. Amy also served as a Research Manager with the Minnesota Justice Research Center where she led the program evaluation for the Returning Home Saint Paul pilot program. 

Amy earned a PhD in Social Work with a doctoral minor in Integrative Leadership and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Women and Gender Studies from Luther College. Prior to attending graduate school, Amy lived in Los Angeles, CA for six years working in the music industry.  

Elizabeth Taylor-Schiro-Biidabinikwe (St. Croix Chippewa/Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe) is a Ph.D. Candidate in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development at the University of Minnesota and she holds a Master’s degree from the University of Minnesota in Educational Policy and Leadership. She is passionate about health equity and social justice advocacy, particularly within Indigenous contexts. Her research and practice centers reflexive practice, identity development and impact, and shifting power to communities through community engagement. 

Elizabeth practices as the Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant Program Coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Health - leading statewide strategic planning around maternal and child health, and an Evaluation and Research Consultant assisting organizations with culturally reflexive, equity-focused, and community-driven research and evaluation strategies. 

For hobbies, you can find Elizabeth spending time with her partner Travis, 3 year old - going on 16 year old son Jude, Border Collie Thor, and kitty Sif, probably exploring a Minnesota hiking trail or wandering around Costco.

Kate Boyle-Steed (she/her) helps teams make strategic, data-informed decisions. She brings enthusiasm for and a decade of experience in evaluating initiatives. She enjoys working with partners to design useful evaluations, and she loves facilitating learning activities that invite people to dig into results together and uncover insights and implications for improvement. She has worked as both an internal evaluator and an external evaluation consultant, working for nonprofit, for-profit, government, and philanthropic organizations. In her current role as the Director of Learning & Evaluation at the Women's Foundation of Minnesota, she strengthens the organization's capacity to use learning and evaluation to drive strategy.  

She has a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of New Hampshire, and a Master of Public Health in epidemiology from Drexel University. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, biking, dancing, and basking in the hot/cold therapy of sauna. She lives in Minneapolis with her delightful partner and two hilarious chihuahua-terrier dogs.

Joanne Moze is a Senior Program Evaluator for the Blue Cross for Communities commercial tobacco program area. She brings over twelve years of experience in planning, designing, implementing, and communicating complex evaluation and research projects for community funding initiatives. For the past ten years, she has also provided evaluation services for Meeker McLeod Sibley Community Health Services and currently serves as Chair of the Minnesota Cancer Alliance Evaluation Advisory Committee.

Joanne enjoys using her evaluation skills to help organizations measure what matters to them, helping programs and organizations demonstrate their impact in the community and gain insights that can foster improvement.  She holds an MPH in Epidemiology, a BA in Kinesiology, and an Advanced Equity and Diversity Certificate from the University of Minnesota.