Dear CEA Members,
The holidays are fast approaching which means it is time for CEA to plan our annual holiday event/business meeting! Every year on the second Tuesday of December we get together to hold elections and update our members on all CEA happenings in the prior year. This year, our meeting will be hosted by the Lincoln Park Zoo, courtesy of our Program Committee Co-Chair, Kathy Kiser. After the event stay and enjoy the complimentary parking to attend Zoo Lights!
Also, the position of Secretary on the CEA Executive Board is up for election this year. If you are interested in running or know someone who may be a good fit, we encourage you to fill out the Nomination Form. Nominations will be accepted on a rolling basis until 11/20. Committee positions are also available on the Strategic Planning/Member Engagement Committee, Professional Development Committee, and the Communications Committee. Please reach out to us if you would like to learn more about these roles.
If you will be attending the American Evaluation Association Annual Conference October 31-November 3 in Cleveland, we are hosting a meet up on Wednesday evening at 8:05pm. We will proceed to a local Cleveland restaurant for a dutch-treat dinner and networking. If you cannot make this meet up, we have also compiled a conference schedule featuring CEA members - so you can easily identify and support your fellow Chicago evaluators at the conference.
I hope to see you soon at an upcoming CEA event! As always, please feel free to reach us at connect@evalchicago.org if you have any questions or comments for CEA Leadership!
Best,
Asma Ali
Upcoming Events:
Event Recap:
Evaluation and Community Collaboration (EC2) Conference
On Thursday, August 30, 2018 CEA co-sponsored the EC2 Conference along with several groups from Northwestern including the Evaluation, Data Integration and Technical Assistance Program (EDIT) team, Institute for Public Health and Medicine, and Northwestern University Evaluation and Research Alliance (NU-ERA).
The day began with a welcome from Joseph Podlasek from Trickster Art Gallery. The gallery's mission is to create a unique, contemporary view of Native arts, cultural education and awareness. Podlasek and his team offered opening words, a small ceremony and blessing. It was a great reminder to be mindful of those that once occupied Chicago and the surrounding territory. The ceremony was the perfect lead into the keynote address, which was an interactive discussion centered around honoring your personal identities when conducting evaluation work. Efrain Gutierrez, the new Impact and Evaluation Manager for the Obama Foundation, was passionate and engaging. He encouraged the audience of evaluators and community members to “bring identifies forward” by “bringing our full selves to the work." He asked thought-provoking questions in order to engage the audience such as, “how or why have your identities brought you here today?”
Following the keynote, the conference convened representatives from Northwestern University, community-based organizations and the Chicago Department of Public Health for a panel. They discussed their experiences working together on comprehensive, citywide HIV prevention projects since 2015. Northwestern University took an empowerment evaluation approach to assist agencies in implementing their HIV prevention programs throughout Chicago. The panel of diverse community-based organizations shared their experiences, with most reflecting that this was their first times being involved in the monitoring and evaluation of their programs. It was clear that all partners felt this was a tremendous learning opportunity.
After lunch, the conference attendees were split into two groups to work through a few topics including: Partnership in Practice: Meeting Communities Where They Are; Empowerment vs. Extraction: Building Data Capacity in Organizations; and Comprehensive Collaboration: How Partnerships Can Help Us Address Health Disparities. To wrap up the day, attendees reconvened and shared highlights from their group discussions and ideas for action and next steps.
American Evaluation Association Conference Sessions
Thank you to the members who submitted their conference sessions. We look forward to stopping by and learning from you!
CEA presenters at AEA.pdf