To read the 2019 Annual Report, please click here.
Dear Washington Evaluators Members:
On behalf of the 2019 Washington Evaluators (WE) Board of Directors, I would like to thank you all for your continued engagement as members, and your energy in supporting our mission to enhance our local evaluation community.
Before I continue my last message as President, I would like to thank the Board with whom I had the pleasure of serving alongside this year, including: President-Elect, Patricia Moore Shaffer; Treasurer, Beeta Tahmassebi; Secretary, Kevin Jones; Program Chair, Melissa Chiu; Membership Chair, Natalie Donahue; New Professional and Student Task Force Chair, Val Caracelli; Scholarship Task Force Chair, Tamarah Moss; Evaluators Without Borders Coordinator, Emily Eisenhauer; and, Mentor Minutes Coordinator, Emily Bango.
As I entered this year as WE President, I sought to promote two themes: (i) evaluation as community, and (ii) evaluators in the community. Throughout the year, the Board was interested in not only ensuring that members could learn from fellow evaluators, but that our members could meet on a more personal and engaged level.
This year, we truly saw the growth of our community, experiencing unparalleled growth with a net increase of 119 dues-paying members. This was the first time since WE began tracking dues-paying membership, that we reached over 100 new members in one year.
Throughout the year, we held our usual professional development events and social gatherings, continuing what we have done well in the past. However, we also organized museum visits, field trips, and book club style events that focused on issues of equity and inclusion, calling on evaluators to think critically (and evaluatively) on how their skills could be applied to question and confront today’s difficult and pressing problems. We also officially launched our pro bono evaluation support program, Evaluation Without Borders—stemming from our successful initiative during the 2017 AEA conference—which provided a space for members to offer hands-on support to advance the social justice missions of their pro bono clients, educate others about our discipline, and learn more about the important work done by non-profits and community-based organizations.
These are just a few of the achievements we saw in 2019, and I welcome you to review more of these successes, as well as areas for improvement, in our Annual Report.
As President, I hope that our activities helped you to more meaningfully engage with your fellow evaluators, but that they also spurred you to question how, as evaluators, we should think about how we can contribute to a more equitable and democratic society.
Warm regards,
Giovanni P. Dazzo
2019 WE Board President
