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Oregon Program Evaluators Network (OPEN) logo

Local Affiliate of the American Evaluation Association

2024 OPEN Leadership

The Oregon Program Evaluator Network (OPEN) is managed by a council of voting officers and committee chairs. Council leadership is elected by OPEN members, unless filled by appointment due to vacancy (appointed by the President and confirmed by the council).

We are now recruiting for the 2025 OPEN Council! Learn more about OPEN leadership roles and opportunities on the Council Positions page.



Chari Smith 

President

Chari Smith believes evaluation should be accessible, practical and usable. She founded Evaluation into Action to help nonprofit professionals create realistic and meaningful program evaluation processes. She has taught several workshops helping nonprofit professionals understand the value and use of program evaluation. Her book, Nonprofit Program Evaluation Made Simple: Get Your Data. Show Your Impact. Improve Your Programs., provides step by step instruction on how to do program evaluation.

Chari is a proud member of the American Evaluation Association (AEA), Oregon Program Evaluators Network (OPEN) and the International Society of Evaluation Education (ISEE). She is also an adjunct faculty member for the University of Portland’s Pamplin School of Business Nonprofit MBA program. You can learn more at www.evaluationintoaction.com 




President-Elect -Vacant 




Alexis Burnett
Co-Financial Officer

Alexis has over 5 years of evaluation experience in K-12 education in Oregon. Before that, her experience as a substitute teacher in the California Bay Area gave her insight into the importance of teacher onboarding and mentorship as well as the importance of representation of culturally and ethnically diverse educators.

Throughout her time in Oregon, she has gained additional interests in social-emotional learning, culturally responsive evaluation, and data-driven storytelling. Her pandemic hobbies of re-working her own household’s spending and saving habits led her to an interest in the responsibilities of OPEN’s Finance Officer and the community that the council helps to build.



Beryl Neequaye
Communication Officer

Beryl Neequaye has been doing program evaluation for over five years and is currently an Evaluation and Data Specialist at The Research Institute (TRI) in the Center on Evaluation, Technology & Research (CETR). In this role, Beryl uses data visualization tools, database management techniques, and culturally responsive approaches to evaluate programs for continuous quality improvement.

She enjoys working with faculty, staff, clients, and other stakeholders in the development of evaluation plans for proposals to federal, state, or local funding agencies.



Beenish Mehboob 
Events Officer

Beenish, an accomplished epidemiologist with over 8 years of experience, holds an MPH from Harvard University and an MSc in health policy from Brandeis University. Beenish is the recipient of the Harvard Minority Mentorship program focused on ergonomics and human factors under the supervision of Professor Jack Dennerlein. Notably, her team (Amherst) won the HSPH Students' proposal for cost-saving public health reforms, presenting their ideas to Massachusetts legislators as part of the inaugural spring challenge.

Recently completing the UC Berkeley Data Analytics and Visualization Bootcamp and the Stanford Online Data Analysis with Python course, she has fortified her expertise in data science. Currently serving as an evaluation and research specialist at NARA Northwest in Portland, Oregon, Beenish is not only focused on various public health projects but also actively engaged in policy development and grant writing. Recognized as a WiDS Ambassador for Data Science 2023-24, her dedication to diversity and continuous learning positions her as a valuable asset in the dynamic fields of public health and data science. She is also a recipient of the NARCH epidemiology fellowship from Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board and is a member of AnitaB.org and American Evaluation Association.

Beenish's versatility extends beyond her background in epidemiology and public health; she has a strong foundation in computer systems. Her commitment to promoting diversity and excellence, highlighted by her role as a WiDS Ambassador, underscores her passion for advancing women in the ever-evolving landscape of data science.





Tryce Taylor 
Community Outreach & Program Development 

Martryce Alita Taylor, B.A. M.A.   

 Martryce [P: MAR-TRICE], a Pan-American Creole, is a multi-talented woman with an academic background in legal philosophy ( B.A. Philosophy, CSU Fresno), education and community learning at the collegiate level ( M.A. Education: Educational Leadership and Administration, CSU Fresno). She is completing extended study in Applied Statistics (Portland State University) and licensure requirements to become a Clinical Mental Health Counselor (M.A. Counseling, Antioch University- New England).  

Her experience includes evaluation for accreditation, attestation, programming, and business management; database, web page, and analytic coding; fundraising, grant writing, fiduciary stewardship, and donor relations; as well as teaching, workshop facilitation, and co-curricular programming for special populations, community members, and K through collegiate education.   

She is currently adding to her focuses in service, social dynamics, culture, and equity infrastructure to include mental health diagnostics and factor analysis for social health outcomes.  

Martryce is a member of the Oregon Program Evaluators Network and a contributor to Chi Sigma Iota, the National Association of Black Counselors, the American Counseling Association, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, and One Big Family Oregon.   


A recent arrival to Portland, Kirsten's background includes compliance and functionality in online higher education, arts program management, and teaching English in China and Colombia. As the Communication Officer, Kirsten's goals include increased utilization of electronic information technology (EIT) accessibility standards and increased visibility on multiple platforms.

Kirsten has been a member of OPEN since 2019. She holds an M.S. in Evaluation & Applied Research from Claremont Graduate University and a B.A. in American Studies from Scripps College.



Justin Caouette

Special Projects/Growth and Development Committee chair 

Justin is a Research Scientist with the Social Development Research Group (SDRG), using his subject matter expertise in adolescent behavioral health to promote positive youth development through rigorous prevention science. He completed his PhD in Human Development from the University of California, Davis in 2016. Upon graduating, he moved to Portland, Oregon to pursue a postdoctoral position in the Department of Psychiatry at Oregon Health & Science University. Justin then held lectureship roles in the Prevention Science and Psychology departments at the University of Oregon, helping to connect working professionals in the social services and community health sectors with the science of program evaluation. Recently Justin has begun to expand his commitment to service work, joining councils for OPEN and Cascade AIDS Project. In the long term, Justin's mission is to work with motivated teams to improve public health through building capacity for schools and communities to implement tested and effective prevention programs.




Harmonie Nyounai-Herrera

Community Engagement Coordinator / Student Liaison

Harmonie Nyounai-Herrera is passionate about the power of evaluation in supporting resilient communities. He believes access to inclusive and equitable programming is a basic human right. Harmonie dedicates efforts to uplift underserved populations using a trilingual and tricultural background. It is with gratitude and enthusiasm that Harmonie joins the Oregon Program Evaluators Network!




Shelley Devens

Co-Financial Officer

Shelley is part of the Quality and Population Health team at Cascadia Health. In their role at Cascadia, they track and identify trends in incident reports, client grievances, client survey results, and more. They regularly use program evaluation skills to create and reinforce systemic supports for Cascadia's direct care staff. Shelley is passionate about equitable, person-centered mental healthcare.

Shelley holds an M.A. In Community Psychology from Concordia University, where they conducted their first empowerment evaluation with Concordia's student PRIDE club. Prior to Concordia, Shelley worked as a post-baccalaureate research assistant in Oregon State University's Social Interaction lab. Their academic background is primarily psychological science. Shelley sees empowerment evaluation and participatory evaluation as opportunities to apply the scientific method in service of their communities.   



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