Charting Your Own Path: How Evaluators Can Lead, Write & Consult

Led by the Washington Evaluators, November 6th, 12:00pm-1:00pm ET

Event Description:

At a time when evaluation programs face uncertainty and change—especially in federal agencies—many evaluators are asking how they can take their careers into their own hands. Whether you’re new to the field or a seasoned professional considering your next chapter, this webinar offers inspiration and practical direction.

Join us for a conversation with Donna M. Mertens, PhD, Professor Emeritus, past president of the American Evaluation Association, and a global leader in transformative evaluation. With over 50 years of experience teaching, conducting, and writing about transformative evaluation, Dr. Mertens built a career that bridges scholarship, practice, and advocacy for human rights and social justice. Her work spans continents and communities, from addressing gender-based violence in Kyrgyzstan to advancing Indigenous pathways in research and evaluation.

In this session, Dr. Mertens will reflect on how evaluators can create independent, meaningful, and sustainable careers—through consulting, writing, thought leadership, and community-engaged practice. She will share lessons from her own journey and offer strategies for reimagining your role in a changing professional landscape.

If you are ready to leverage your expertise in evaluation to write, consult, or pursue work aligned with your values, this webinar will encourage and equip you with ideas for moving forward.

Presenter: Donna Mertens is Professor Emeritus at Gallaudet University with a specialization in research and evaluation methodologies designed to support social transformation. She has authored, co-authored, or edited many books that include mixed methods approaches to evaluation methods and human rights, most recently Mixed Methods Research, Program Evaluation Theory and Practice 3rd ed; Mixed Methods Design in Evaluation; Research and Evaluation in Education and Psychology: Integrating Diversity with Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods 6^th ed. She focuses on the intersection of research and evaluation with social, economic and environmental justice based on the precepts of the transformative paradigm. Mertens served as the editor for the Journal of Mixed Methods Research 2010–2014. She was President of the American Evaluation Association in 1998 and served on the Board from 1997 to 2002; she was a founding board member of the International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation and the Mixed Methods International Research Association.