Date: Sunday, February 8, 2026
We are the 2026 DC Emerging Evaluators Exchange (DCE3) Organizing Committee: Emily Cipolla, Amy Lebrecht, Helen Mittmann, Riley Redd, and Nate Varnell. DCE3 is a conference run by and for emerging evaluators in the DC/Maryland/Virginia (DMV) area and we are excited to bring you a week of posts to share more about this event.
This conference was first established in 2016, formerly known as the DC Consortium Student Conference on Evaluation and Policy (DCSCEP), as a partnership between DC-area universities that now include: American University, Howard University, George Mason University, and George Washington University. In 2025, we rebranded to DCE3 to better communicate the purpose and values of the conference.
Since that first year, we have hosted seven different conferences, with graduate students and recent alumni driving all decisions on speakers, topics, and structure. The format and topics have varied slightly across the years, though we have always been committed to 1) staying student-centered, 2) focusing on the DMV region, 3) emphasizing professional development through engagement with both fellow students and professionals, and 4) encouraging growth by providing exposure to diverse evaluation topics and experts.
The DCE3 conference typically includes a keynote presentation, expert panel discussion, and presentations from a variety of students and recent alumni. We have been able to host some incredible practitioners throughout the years, including Dr. Michael Quinn Patton (2017), Dr. Stafford Hood (2018), Dr. Jean King (2019), Ms. Kylie Hutchinson (2022), Dr. Rodney Hopson (2023), Dr. Bagele Chilisa (2024), and Dr. Nicky Bowman as our 2025 Keynote who spoke on Ways of Knowing in Evaluation. This week AEA365 will feature blog posts from our DCE3 Organizing Committee, faculty mentors, and student presenters from the 2025 DCSCEP conference (prior to rebranding) so you can learn a bit more about our event, why we are committed to supporting emerging evaluators, and the great projects completed by our presenters! The full program including information about our keynote, panel, and student speakers for the 2025 conference can be accessed here. We encourage you to reach out to these presenters and engage with their work—we think you’ll be impressed with their expertise.
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