Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026
I’m Dr. Emely Medina-Rodriguez, former chair of the Latinx Responsive Evaluation Discourse AEA TIG (LaRED TIG). Through my work with Latinx/e communities and my involvement in LaRED, I’ve focused on creating spaces where Latinx/e evaluators can connect, learn from one another, and bring their lived experiences into the evaluation field. I’m excited to continue supporting LaRED’s vision of greater representation, collaboration, and leadership among Latinx/e evaluators.
And now, I’m excited to introduce LaRED’s new co-chairs, Elia Bueno and Eva Chavez! As I talked with them about their experiences, what brought them to LaRED, and where they see the future of Latinx/e evaluators going, I was reminded of why this community is so special. While their paths are different, both bring a strong commitment to building community, creating space for others, and helping shape the future of evaluation.
For Elia, her path to evaluation was shaped by the people and communities she encountered early in her career. After completing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, she worked as a mental health caseworker and a dual-language elementary school teacher, primarily serving low-income Latinx/e communities in Texas.
Seeing the health and educational disparities experienced by children and families made her want to better understand the systems and programs affecting their lives. It also motivated her to pursue applied research and evaluation to contribute to programs and policies that can address some of the barriers Latinx/e communities experience.
Her decision to take on a leadership role with LaRED builds on that same commitment. For Elia, leadership is an opportunity to continue developing her own skills while creating space for other Latinx/e evaluators. She also sees it as a way to honor the evaluators who created LaRED and continue their work of making sure our voices are heard within AEA.
Eva’s path to leadership started with something a little different: the people she found in LaRED.
She was inspired by how consistently members show up for one another and generously share their time, knowledge, and experiences. Being surrounded by people she could learn from made her want to contribute to the group and help create opportunities for those conversations to continue.
And, as often happens in a good community, the exchange goes both ways. While Eva contributes her time and facilitation skills, LaRED has also given her resources, perspectives, and connections that she carries into her own evaluation practice.
So, why does having a space specifically for Latinx/e evaluators matter?
For Elia and Eva, it comes down to feeling seen, understood, and connected.
Elia reflected on how few Latinx/e evaluators there are in the field. Having a space where people understand what it can mean to work with Latinx/e communities, navigate different parts of our identities and cultures, or be the only person of color in an evaluation space can make a real difference.
For Eva, LaRED also provides a place to process some of the experiences that come with doing evaluation work. We often hear powerful—and sometimes difficult—stories from the communities we serve, especially during data collection. Having people who understand that experience gives us a place to talk, reflect, and support one another.
That kind of space feels especially important right now, when many of our identities and communities continue to face challenges.
Our experiences shape how we see the world, and both co-chairs see this as an important contribution Latinx/e evaluators bring to the field.
Language, culture, immigration, education, family, and so many other parts of our identities can shape how we understand communities and how we approach evaluation. But there is also no single Latinx/e experience.
That complexity is part of what makes this community so interesting. The word Latinx/e itself encompasses many different identities, histories, and experiences. Bringing those perspectives to the table can challenge traditional approaches to evaluation and help us think differently about what communities need.
When looking toward the future, both Elia and Eva hope to see greater representation and more leadership opportunities for Latinx/e evaluators across the field—not just in academia, but also in consulting, philanthropy, government, and the many other spaces where evaluation happens.
They also see an opportunity for the next generation to build on culturally responsive evaluation approaches while continuing to question, challenge, and expand them. The goal is not simply to enter the field, but to have a role in shaping where the field goes next.
When I asked them to describe the future of Latinx/e evaluators, Elia described it as creative, messy, diverse, and resilient. Eva described it as love, abundance, and ganas.
I think those words capture LaRED pretty well.
We are still growing. We are still figuring things out. We are learning from each other, challenging the field, supporting one another, and creating space for the next generation.
And, of course, we are doing it with a lot of ganas.
The American Evaluation Association is hosting Latina/o Responsive Evaluation Discourse TIG Week. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from LaRED Topical Interest Group 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.