Evaluation Managers and Supervisors TIG Week: In-Between and In Need: How Mentorship Can Bridge Career Gaps and Nurture New Evaluators by Lilly Pope and Briana Thompson Ford

Date: Wednesday, July 9, 2025

This blog was a collaboration among leadership members of the Evaluation Managers and Supervisors (EMS) TIG and the Graduate Students and New Evaluators (GSNE) TIG leadership: Lilly Pope (EMS Engagement Lead, Hillman Associates), Briana Thompson Ford (GSNE Chair, Ford Thinking Research & Evaluation Partners), Renee Boyer (EMS Program Chair, Syracuse City School District) and JoAnna Hillman (EMS Chair, Hillman Associates).

In a time of stress and uncertainty, many evaluators are at a career crossroads due to federal funding cuts and layoffs, leading to feelings of disorientation. They often encounter a “virtuous cycle” that includes getting a job, growing, reflecting, engaging in professional development, creating new aspirations, relocating to new roles, and repeating the process. The cycle might feel passive to professional evaluators while students and early career evaluators often overestimate the planning of their role models. During challenging crossroad phases, it is vital to find balance and maintain hope; one way for evaluators to do so is mentorship.

Lessons Learned

Recently, the Evaluation Managers and Supervisors TIG collaborated with the Graduate Student and New Evaluators TIG for a panel on what evaluation managers look for in candidates. The panel consisted of evaluation managers, several currently hiring. Seasoned evaluators shared their hard-earned wisdom while students and new evaluators shared current struggles and anxieties about entering the field of evaluation. Both groups desired opportunities for mentorship. So, what’s holding us back and how can we move towards mentoring relationships?

1. Difficulty locating opportunities: Join a TIG and post on a discussion board. Add details about your area of expertise and your availability, as well as some insight about who might be a good match for you. If your workplace has a mentoring program, be sure to share! The Graduate Student and New Evaluators TIG would love to hear from you.
2. Expectations for work: Mentors often think they’ll have to teach mentees or give advice about problems mentees are facing every day. Our discussion revealed mentees are actually looking for real-life practice, not antidotal advice. New evaluators said, “we want to earn healthy professional relationships where we might become proteges, junior associates, and eventually peers.” When mentors switch their thinking from “teaching” to “including,” the relationship benefits both parties.
3. Anxiety and imposter syndrome: It seems we all have it, some of us have just been masking it for decades. Consider how you are setting up your workplace for the next generation coming in. Can you make mentorship an established practice to reduce imposter syndrome? Is mentorship in your strategic plan? When opportunities for continuous growth are built into the culture of the workplace, new employees will feel more comfortable asking for support and seasoned employees will more freely provide it.
4. Limited capacity: We get it, we’re tired! Evaluation work is mentally taxing and the idea of trying to build a mentoring relationship or to mentor someone else sounds daunting at first. After joining forces to host our panel discussion however, both seasoned and new evaluators walked away with a renewed energy and passion for our field and for each other! Taking that time to discuss expectations for the relationship and ensuring a good match can make all the difference. Mentorship is an investment but if you never make your first deposit, you’ll never see the rewards.

Get Involved

As evaluators navigate their careers in uncertain times, the importance of mentorship becomes increasingly clear. By addressing barriers and fostering supportive relationships, both seasoned and new evaluators can thrive, creating a more resilient and connected professional community. Embracing mentorship not only enhances individual growth but also strengthens the evaluation field as a whole.

The American Evaluation Association is hosting Evaluation Managers and SupervisorsTIG Week with our colleagues in the Evaluation Managers and Supervisors Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from our Gov’t Eval TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this AEA365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the AEA365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an AEA365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to AEA365@eval.org. AEA365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.