Chicagoland Evaluation Association #evalchicago Community Corner

April 7 - Survey Rx Workshop in Evanston

Toi Wise — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 22:59:17 GMT

Hello All!

CEA member Monica Kaiser is co-facilitating an in-person workshop in Evanston on April 7th: Survey Rx: Better Surveys, Smarter Visuals, Real Insight.

Workshop Description

Most nonprofits rely on surveys for monitoring and improvement—but even experienced teams run into the same issues. Questions don’t always get at what matters most. Response rates fall short. And when it's time to act, the charts don’t always reveal what you can trust or use.

In this workshop, we’ll share practical tools we use with our clients and work through them together to strengthen both survey design and use. Because surveys are inherently relational, this is designed as an in-person session where people can try out those skills with others.

This can be a useful opportunity to add to your survey toolkit—or to attend with a nonprofit client and engage in the process together.

We’re also including time for networking (and a post happy hour), so there’s opportunity to connect with other consultants and non-profit staff.

This session is sponsored by The Association of Consultants to Nonprofits and is co-facilitated by:

Monica Kaiser, MEd is an evaluation and data consultant with 25+ years of experience in applied research, program evaluation, and data capacity-building. She has led large-scale, mixed-methods evaluations and helps nonprofits strengthen how they use data for learning, performance improvement, and decision-making.

Amelia Kohm, PhD is the founder of Data Viz for Nonprofits, with 25+ years of experience in research, funding, and evaluation. She has led studies at Chapin Hall and served as a program officer at the Sears Roebuck Foundation and Illinois Humanities Council, and now focuses on practical, decision-focused data visualization.

Details

Tuesday, April 7 | 2:00 – 5:00

Evanston Public Library, 1703 Orrington Ave.

Free for consultants to nonprofits and nonprofit staff

For more information and registration: https://www.acnconsult.org/event-6563259

A Professional Peer Networking Opportunity

Sheila Rodriguez Howard — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 20:26:15 GMT

What and Where:

You are invited to attend an upcoming 1.5-hour Professional Peer Networking (PPN) (formerly Evaluator Peer Networking) event on March 11^th, 2025, at 2 pm EST/11 am PST. You can register here.

The theme of this meetup is Public Health, Community Health, and Mental Health. So many of us working as evaluators and applied researchers in this field have experienced dramatic uncertainty since last year. To continue to support each other to navigate the ongoing changes and regain a sense of community, come and join this meetup!

PPN is an ongoing series of free Zoom speed networking events. The space is created for professionals to meet and network with others in your field in rounds of one-on-one meetings to share your work, learn from others, and build relationships.

Future Dates:

Having a meeting conflict but interested in attending a future meetup? Sign up here to receive announcements about future PPN events.

Hope to see you there!

Professional Development Opportunity!

Toi Wise — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 14:30:00 GMT

Dear CEA Members,

We wanted to share a great upcoming opportunity below for anyone interested in an Evaluation Institute. The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University is hosting a week-long evaluation institute for staff from nonprofits and public agencies this May.

Evaluation Institute | The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University

If you’ve been wanting to use data and evaluation to strengthen your organization’s work and deepen your impact but haven’t had the time, support, or clarity to make it happen, The Evaluation Center’s Evaluation Institute is for you.

Join us May 11–15 for an intensive evaluation planning retreat at Western Michigan University’s Fetzer Center. You’ll receive the instruction, tools, practice, and guidance you need to develop a meaningful and actionable evaluation plan for your organization or initiative. Importantly, you will have protected time and one-on-one support to create what you need to put your plan into action, including a logic model, evaluation questions, data collection strategy, and more.

Whether you’re looking to jumpstart a new evaluation or strengthen existing practices, our expert team of instructors is ready to meet you where you are on your evaluation journey. The Evaluation Center is widely recognized for its 60+ years of leadership in advancing evaluation theory, practice, and use. Collectively, our instructional team brings more than 80 years of combined experience as evaluation practitioners and educators.

For maximum benefit, we encourage organizations to send more than one person to the Institute. Our pricing structure makes it cost-effective to send up to five people, and registration includes breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Get details about the Evaluation Institute’s structure, pricing, and registration at https://wmich.edu/evaluation/institute

If it sounds like the Evaluation Institute is for you, sign up before 4/25/26 – space is limited! Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions.

Lori A. Wingate, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)

Executive Director

The Evaluation Center

Western Michigan University

lori.wingate@wmich.edu

Take Action: Evaluator and Evaluation Blogs

Thu, 17 Dec 2020 12:28:51 GMT

Evaluator and Evaluation Blogs

Evaluators are blogging! Some focus on evaluation, some do not. Look for the to identify AEA members. If you are a blogger, or on Twitter, send an email to info@eval.org to have your blog or twitter name considered for adding to the aea365.org/blog/ page.

The Chicagoland Evaluator: Dr. Anne Farrell's tips on using evaluation to inform policy

Fri, 12 Apr 2019 22:06:12 GMT

The Chicagoland Evaluator: Member feature

Using evaluation to inform policy: Tips for evaluators

an interview with Dr. Anne Farrell, Director of Research, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

For this edition of The Chicagoland Evaluator, Dr. Rafiqah Mustafaa, Evaluation Coach at Planning, Implementation, Evaluation Org interviewed Dr. Anne Farrell, Director of Research at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. Below, Rafiqah shares Dr. Farrell’s valuable tips on how readers might conduct rigorous translational research and evaluation that can be useful for decision-making.

1. Deeply examine the theory of change. This is an essential component of any project because it helps the evaluator or researcher to understand the logic behind the policy or program being examined. To understand this logic, Dr. Farrell suggests asking questions like what is this program/policy trying to accomplish? And who is involved in implementation?These answers provide a realistic idea of how the program operates, the outcomes that matter, and where our work can have the most impact. Too often, measurement of implementation is ignored, making it impossible to know what components are responsible for change (or lack thereof).

2. Seek the perspectives of various stakeholders including the policy’s intended beneficiaries and frontline workers. Inquiry into the effectiveness or impact of a policy or program involves an informed, collaborative dialogue. As evaluators, we have perspectives that shape our inquiry; however, there are many things we don’t know, or can’t know, because of our particular vantage points. It is important that we understand the perspectives of the beneficiaries, frontline workers, and other stakeholders, and use those perspectives to inform our evaluation process. In particular, equity-oriented evaluation efforts need to tap the perspectives of community members and individuals who are intended to benefit from initiatives and programs.

3. Study in depth the policy and its related regulations. Policy-oriented evaluators need to understand deeply the policies of interest in order to align evaluation to inform policy. To do this, evaluators can ask questions like what are the regulations associated with this policy?And how are the intended beneficiaries affected when laws, regulations, or appropriations change? By answering these questions, evaluators are better positioned to provide insightful analyses and relevant recommendations for decision-makers.

4. Focus on collecting data that is needed and useful. Dr. Farrell shared that she has become a measurement “minimalist” as she’s evolved in her career. Very often, heads of agencies, frontline staff, and intended beneficiaries are required to collect and/or report data that is never actually used in evaluation. Policy-oriented evaluators need to have a clear understanding of the purpose of each data point. Knowing this, we can use a more intentional approach to measurement that focuses on collecting quality, useful data, and minimize demands on the individuals involved in the data collection process.

This conversation with Dr. Anne Farrell highlighted that while evaluators bring to their work a range of interests, skillsets, and approaches, it is important to consider how we can be intentional in shaping our work to maximize its utility for policy and practice.

CEA Quarterly Newsletter August 2018

Sat, 18 Aug 2018 02:23:26 GMT

Dear CEA Members,

Welcome to our inaugural CEA Newsletter! We are excited to launch this quarterly newsletter to keep you informed about CEA events and interests. The CEA Executive Committee and Board have been busy! Our focus has been to rebuild CEA infrastructure and leadership by:

Expanding our membership: Our CEA membership is the largest it has ever been and we welcomed our first ever institutional members, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and the Education Development Center. In the coming year, we will be polling members to learn about your needs and vision for CEA programming and events. Members looking to get more involved can volunteer for our committees! Send an email to connect@evalchicago.org if you are interested in learning more.
Creating a fresh look: The Communications Committee has been hard at work! CEA has a brand new logo and branding. Check it out on our new website www.evalchicago.org.
Increasing programming: Led by our Professional Development Committee, CEA has hosted six events so far in 2018. These included presentations and workshops from evaluation leaders like David Fetterman, and Tom Lipsey as well as local evaluators like the St. Louis AEA affiliate’s Matt Feldmann and UIC’s Terry Ann Solomon. Our year continues with even more opportunities for professional development this month and next.
Utilizing Partnerships: CEA is leveraging our partnerships with The Evaluation Institute, Lurie Children’s Hospital, and Northwestern University to bring together our membership with a broader group of organizations and evaluators. We are also active members of AEA’s Local Affiliate Council which offers opportunities for us to network with other AEA affiliates.

Please feel free to contact us at connect@evalchicago.org if you have any comments for CEA Leadership! I hope to see you soon at a CEA event!

Best,
Asma Ali

Upcoming Events:

Jazzin' at the Shedd with AEA President Leslie Goodyear

Wednesday, 08/22/2018
6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Shedd Aquarium, 1200 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605

The Chicagoland Evaluation Association is delighted to welcome AEA President Dr. Leslie Goodyear to our Annual Event at the Shedd Aquarium. Leslie will be speaking on the AEA 2018 Conference Theme, Speaking Truth to Power, the new Guiding Principles for Evaluators, and other AEA happenings.

Event Page: https://www.evalchicago.org/event-2816271

Evaluation & Community Collaboration Conference

Thursday, 08/30/2018
9:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Lurie Children's, 11th Floor Conference Center, 225 E Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60611

Representatives from Northwestern, community agencies, and the CDPH to talk about their experiences working together on comprehensive HIV prevention demonstration projects and will include discussion about working together to improve our response to HIV.

Event Page: https://www.evalchicago.org/event-3007373

Becoming Evaluation Ready: Evaluation Training Session for Community Organizations

Wednesday, 09/12/2018
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Lurie Children's, 11th Floor Conference Center, 225 E Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60611

This session is designed for community organizations and will provide information on how to prepare for partnering with an evaluator and/or evaluating their programs.

Event Page: https://www.evalchicago.org/event-3007375

The Chicago Evaluator: Member feature

Because CEA members have such tremendous talent and experience to share with other members, we are featuring one member post in our quarterly newsletters. If you are interested in sharing your work with other members - email us at connect@evalchicago.org.

How To Bring A Logic Model To Life

and wield a MUCH more powerful evaluation tool

Hi, Amelia Kohm of the Data Viz for Nonprofits here to talk about logic models. The evaluation world is lousy with logic models. You may know logic model by one of its other names such as causal chain, model of change, roadmap, and theory of change. A logic model is really just a humble flow chart with an erudite name. It’s a visual representation of how an intervention or program is supposed to work. And it should help evaluators articulate evaluation questions and select appropriate methods and measures to answer them.

Lessons Learned

Logic models are hypothetical, best case scenarios. And, well, reality can bite.

Logic models often get more play during the planning and proposal-writing phase of a project than during implementation. During the daily work of a project, logic models are taking it easy, gathering dust in files and on servers.

But what if we could plug a logic model into the real world? What if we could see how the plan is playing out in reality and make adjustments along the way?

Cool Trick

With data visualization software like Tableau, you can create a “living logic model. The current that animates it is real-time data. A living logic model compares theory to reality by showing progress to date. It also allows you to track the progress of subgroups and individuals. So it helps you to plan, to ask the right questions, and to make mid-course corrections.

A living logic model is more understandable and tangible than a traditional one. The user can scroll over any component in the model to learn more about it. Such descriptions can include photos and web links for interested users. A living logic model shows progress to date. Color saturation indicates the status of each component. And the user can click on any component to see what subgroups might be driving progress, stagnation, or regression.

Play around with this living logic model that I created for a tutoring program to get an idea of its potential. Scroll over components to get more information. Click on components to get data on individual students. Enjoy and please let me know if you have any questions.

- Amelia Kohm, Founder and Consultant, Data Viz for Nonprofits