Date: Thursday, November 20, 2025
Hello! We are Tanisha Tate Woodson, Curriculum Curator and Instructor, and Chyenne Mallinson, Program Manager, for the Leaders in Equitable Evaluation and Diversity (LEEAD) Program. LEEAD is a 16-month program designed to strengthen the capacity of mid-career evaluation practitioners to conduct culturally responsive and equitable evaluation (CREE). Scholars engage in 12 weeks of intensive coursework, are paired with Mentors, and practice their learnings through a Practicum Site experience.
Across cohorts, LEEAD Scholars have grown tremendously as evaluators and professionals, but many have expressed feeling disconnected as leaders in the field. For emerging evaluators, this climate can feel overwhelming and isolating. How do we stay committed to rigorous, equitable evaluation when the value of our work is being challenged?
The answer lies not just in sharpening technical evaluation skills, but in cultivating the capacity to lead. Evaluation has always been more than methods and metrics — it requires the ability to navigate complex systems, build trust across differences, communicate findings to diverse audiences, and advocate for the communities whose voices must be centered in our work. This year, we are focusing intentionally on supporting Scholars’ growth as leaders by making stronger connections between evaluation and leadership.
As previewed at the AEA 2025 Conference, the LEEADership Framework introduces Scholars to a spectrum of leadership styles and invites them to engage with evaluators who exemplify these approaches in practice. Through dialogue, reflection, and collaboration, Scholars will co-design a LEEADership Framework that reflects their own lived experiences, values, and aspirations.
This evolution in our curriculum emerged from our recognition that there is no single way to lead in evaluation. Too often, leadership development focuses on prescriptive traits or behaviors that fail to capture the diversity of who evaluators are or the contexts in which they work. The LEEADership Framework challenges that narrative by honoring multiple modes of leadership. By helping Scholars identify their leadership voice, we empower them to lead in ways that feel genuine, sustainable, and aligned with CREE.
When we marry evaluation practice with leadership development, we develop practitioners who can not only design rigorous studies and analyze data with cultural humility, but who can also mobilize partners, navigate resistance, and create space for equity-centered practice in the face of adversity.
As part of this focus, we developed the Finding Your Voice as a Leader resource — a self-assessment that supports evaluators in exploring their identity, relationships, adaptability, and vision as leaders.
This tool helps practitioners reflect on how they show up across four domains:
By starting with self-awareness and moving toward strategic action, this tool helps evaluators build the foundation for sustainable leadership practice that connects purpose, identity, and impact.
Cultivating leaders in evaluation is not a luxury — it is a necessity. The challenges facing our field demand evaluators who can navigate complexity, inspire collaboration, and remain grounded in CREE practice, even when the terrain is uncertain. Through the LEEAD Program and forthcoming resources like the LEEADership Framework, we are investing in a generation of evaluation leaders who will carry this work forward with conviction and care.
Ready to discover your leadership voice? We invite you to take the Finding Your Voice as a Leader assessment, reflect on your results, and join us in building a community of evaluation leaders. Whether you’re an emerging evaluator or a seasoned practitioner, understanding your authentic leadership approach is the first step toward showing up more powerfully in your work.
The American Evaluation Association is hosting Expanding The Bench® week. Expanding the Bench® is an initiative committed to diversifying evaluation and elevating culturally responsive and equitable evaluation. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from partners of Expanding The Bench®. 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.