Please join Washington Evaluators online for a conversation about equity, social justice, and evaluation with Dr. Chera Reid, the new Director of the Evaluation Roundtable, November 5, 12:30pm. WE's Chair of Community Engagement, Emily Bango, will facilitate this event. 

Dr. Chera Reid takes over the Evaluation Roundtable’s leadership at a pivotal time in its evolution. Over the last 30 years, the Roundtable has served as a preeminent resource for peer learning about cutting-edge philanthropic evaluation and learning practice. Going forward, the Roundtable will focus on organizing participants to influence the philosophy and norms of practice in philanthropy so that evaluation and learning:

• help to advance racial equity and justice
• create channels for people—particularly those who historically and structurally have been excluded from decision making about public resources—to participate in, and influence decisions about, the interventions and systems affecting their lives
• increase the ability of foundations, nonprofits, and other change agents to navigate and transform the complex dynamics that shape our world.

Chera comes to the Roundtable after serving as Director of Strategic Learning, Research and Evaluation at the Kresge Foundation, where she guided one of the nation’s largest private foundations to become an intentional learning organization rooted in values of equity and opportunity. At Kresge, she brought an equity frame to evaluative thinking, which she applied to the Foundation’s learning agenda around place-based practice, collaboration across fields and sectors, and measurement. She also co-led foundation-wide efforts to raise consciousness about race and the impact of structural racism as the foundation made a comprehensive commitment to advancing equity. As a founding member of Kresge’s Opportunity Fund team, she built a grantmaking portfolio focused on building political power for, and civic engagement of, low-income and communities of color. Before joining Kresge, Chera worked at MDRC, where she focused on ensuring that all students have access to quality public education and can pursue a college education that matches their needs regardless of their family income. She also has held leadership positions at New York Needs You and the Phillips Academy Andover Institute for Recruitment of Teachers, programs that expand educational and career opportunities for first-generation, low-income, and students of color. 

Founded in 1989 by philanthropic evaluation leader Patti Patrizi, the Evaluation Roundtable is a network of evaluation and learning leaders from over 130 foundations in the U.S. and Canada focused on improving the practice of evaluation and strategic learning in philanthropy. The Center for Evaluation Innovation has been coordinating the Evaluation Roundtable since 2012.

This members-only online event is limited to 60 people; Members are able to register a guest. Please register by November 3 to confirm. Directions to connect online will be provided to registered participants a day in advance of the event.