Date: Sunday, August 10, 2025
Hello, AEA365 community! Liz DiLuzio here, Lead Curator of the blog. This week is Individuals Week, which means we take a break from our themed weeks and spotlight the Hot Tips, Cool Tricks, Rad Resources and Lessons Learned from any evaluator interested in sharing. Would you like to contribute to future individuals weeks? Email me at AEA365@eval.org with an idea or a draft and we will make it happen.
Hi, I’m Omoshalewa Bamkole and I’ve worked as an evaluator for 10 years.
This post continues the series: What is reflective practice (and why is it important to us as individuals and evaluators)?I focus on my evaluation experience at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I have multiple roles supporting distinct evaluation planning, data collection and analysis, and reporting activities. Increasingly, these roles require me to balance more perspectives and responsibilities. Sometimes I teach, helping practitioners to understand evaluation concepts more fully. At times I design, creating evaluative frameworks to illustrate program activities. Other times I facilitate, fostering thoughtful discussion about data and its use. Balancing these roles is both exciting and intimidating. I realize my success as an evaluator relies on my strengths in coordination, collaboration, and cocreation. My reflections on these roles and strengths resulted in learnings shared here.
I want to be an evaluator who combines rigor with flexibility and humility when engaging others. With each project, I gain insights that help me navigate the complexities ahead. I look forward to more reflection and growth during the next 10 years.
Better Evaluation presents curated materials on reflective practice that include a how to writing guide prepared for the Australian Library and Information Association.
Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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