Upcoming events

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• Public Health, Community Health, and Mental Health

  • When
    Wednesday, March 11, 2026
  •  
    11:00 AM
  • Location
    Virtual

  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.

  
  

  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!

  Best,

  Sylvia

   

  Sylvia Pu, Ph.D.

  Principal | Sylvia Pu Consulting

  Visit website.

  Connect via LinkedIn.

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• Winter Evaluation in Progress (EIP)

  • When
    Wednesday, March 11, 2026
  •  
    12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
  • Location
    Virtual, Zoom

  Register

  Are you currently grappling with a needs assessment or facing challenges with a survey question that could benefit from an additional perspective? Perhaps there's a specific area in evaluation that has captured your interest, and you're seeking recommendations or advice. Look no further! Connect with fellow professionals at our next online "Evaluation in Progress" (EIP) event.

  This virtual gathering provides evaluators, irrespective of their project stage, with the opportunity to showcase their work and receive constructive feedback and insights from peers. Join us for an informal and enriching session during your lunch break, where you can bring your burning questions, engage in professional development, and expand your network.

  Feel free to reach out to Matt Honoré at [email protected] if you have any questions or concerns.

  We look forward to your active participation in this collaborative and supportive environment!

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• Fix My Dashboard!: Exploring Best Practices and Pitfalls in Dashboard Design

  • When
    Wednesday, March 25, 2026
  •  
    12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
  • Location
    Virtual
  • Registered
    15 registrants

  Register

  On Wednesday, March 25th, 12-1 pm, OPEN will be hosting a virtual workshop titled "Fix My Dashboard!: Exploring Best Practices and Pitfalls in Dashboard Design" by Tom Withee and Amber Lewis.

  Dashboards can be effective tools for visualizing data and driving decision-making; however, many dashboards fall short in delivering clear, actionable insights. In this workshop, we will focus on the key design elements that make dashboards both effective and user-friendly. In the first half of this workshop, participants will learn about best practices for layout, visual clarity, and user experience to ensure that their dashboards communicate data effectively. The second half of the workshop will focus on reviewing examples of dashboards in need of improvement. In group discussions, we will analyze dashboards and brainstorm ideas on how to enhance their design, usability, and functionality. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own dashboards for feedback on how to make them more effective. By the end of the session, participants will leave with practical strategies to design dashboards that are visually engaging, intuitive to use, and capable of delivering meaningful insights to stakeholders.

  More about our presenters:

  • Tom Withee is the Owner / Principal Researcher for Fulcrum DataViz that supports school districts, colleges and universities, not-for-profit organizations and informal education entities with evaluation, research and data visualization services. Tom has been a program evaluator and education researcher since 2019 where he has developed expertise as a data thought partner for organizations by helping them understand what data they already have, what data they could/should use, how to interpret that data and how to communicate effectively with their data. Tom has presented on developing and designing interactive data dashboards for several local evaluation affiliates including EASL, H-PEA, IEA and Seattle; at multiple AEA conferences, and for organizations. He is passionate about making STEM education accessible to all students as is evidenced by the projects he supports.
  • Amber Lewis is the Principal Evaluator for Kindling Insights, a new evaluation practice focused primarily on serving nonprofit and community programs. Amber has been supporting the evaluation efforts of funders, nonprofits, and universities for nearly a decade, serving in both internal evaluation and external consulting capacities. She has led evaluation projects for St. Louis area education-focused nonprofits and a variety of National Science Foundation grants seeking to promote equity in STEM within secondary and higher education. Amber works with program teams to understand how to define and measure program success, from developing logic models and instrumentation to data collection, analysis, and reporting. She seeks to provide both quantitative and qualitative analysis in ways that are engaging, offer actionable insights, and are informed by the collaboration and voices of diverse stakeholders. She is passionate about making data accessible and empowering clients to ask and answer questions that meaningfully affect and improve their work on behalf of others. Amber is a member of the American Evaluation Association and serves on the board of the Evaluation Association of St. Louis.

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• In-Person Networking Event

  • When
    Tuesday, March 31, 2026
  •  
    5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
  • Location
    Lucky Labrador Public House
  • Registered
    2 registrants

  Register

  OPEN is organizing an in-person networking and social event for Tuesday, March 31st from 5:30–7:30pm at Lucky Labrador Public House in Multnomah Village (7675 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR 97219).

  This is a great opportunity to connect with peers, share best practices, and learn from each other's experiences. Whether you are a seasoned evaluator, a newcomer to the field, or just curious about program evaluation, you are welcome to attend this informal and friendly event. We’ll have a fun icebreaker activity to get conversations flowing. This event is free for OPEN members and no-host (i.e. pay for your own food and drinks).

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