Date: Saturday, September 13, 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.
I’m Jalessa Noel Bryant, and I’m a doctoral candidate at UW-Madison studying pedagogical work in community-based educational spaces.
In the field of evaluation, relational and affective methodologies remain underutilized and under-explored. Yet now, more than ever, it is essential for practitioners to recognize the powerful role these methodologies play in shaping meaningful, Culturally Responsive Evaluation (CRE). As a Young and Emerging Evaluator (YEE), a woman of color, and a feminist, I have been shaped by a world often marked by epistemic and ontological violence. I also know what it means to be in spaces where belonging can be scarce and homeplace elusive. Still, my cultural and ethnic background taught me that relationships—whether as colleagues, friends, or kin—can be powerful sources of affirmation, dignity, and self-determined learning. These connections are not just personal comforts; they are essential to my work as an evaluator.
During the 2024–2025 academic year, I served as a GEDI Scholar at a host site alongside Daniela, who was also placed there. While our GEDI reports were individual, our approaches complemented one another: I focused on reflexivity of the self, while she explored reflexivity of systems. Both of us centered our work on relationship-building, grounded in the belief that evaluation does not occur in a vacuum—it is inherently relational.
Working with another GEDI at the same host site significantly enriched my experience. Having a peer in the same position made the transition into a larger evaluation team smoother—and more joyful. We traveled together, sang together, and built trust through shared meals, open conversations, and moments of intentional care after long days. These everyday acts were not ancillary to my work—they were part of my learning. The knowledge I received from the host site and the GEDI program wasn’t simply absorbed; it was reflected, questioned, and deepened through our relationship. Discussing ethics, power, and context side by side allowed me to identify what was new to me and how that shaped the work I was doing. Learning in community created a safe space for vulnerability and risk-taking.
Daniela and I began as strangers, but through the shared space of our GEDI experience and a commitment to practicing a “friendship ethic,” we created something meaningful: a community within our evaluation context. I was intentional about this from the beginning, choosing to model a kind of micro-community that I wished to see reflected throughout our host site and the broader field.
Genuine relationship-building has the power to define a new learner’s experience in evaluation. Choosing a friendship ethic became a powerful way for me to create intentional, affirming community. In fact, reflecting on context alongside a trusted peer became a CRE practice in and of itself. It was a reminder that making mistakes, brainstorming ideas, and growing in community is not only acceptable—it’s necessary. For me, the most significant measure of a successful GEDI experience wasn’t a deliverable or a data set. It was a sense of belonging. A sense of community. And a blossoming friendship. CRE is not just about frameworks and competencies—it’s about people. Real relationships are living evidence of quality CRE work.
And sisterhood, in all its complexity and care, has been my greatest teacher.
Love on your people… especially right now.
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