TEN Week: Announcing the Texas Evaluation Network (TEN) Blog Week: The Value of AEA Local Affiliates by Susan M. Wolfe

Date: Sunday, February 22, 2026

I’m Susan M. Wolfe, CEO and Community Consultant with Susan Wolfe and Associates. As I contemplate potential retirement in a couple of years, I’ve been reflecting on some of the things that have led to success with my career and my business. In this blog I will share one of them with you—the many advantages of joining and engaging with your AEA Local Affiliate. Local AEA affiliates support the broad and diverse evaluators in local communities. AEA lists 34 different local affiliates across the US, from Alaska to Puerto Rico.

My local Affiliate, the Texas Evaluation Network (TEN), was born at the 2010 AEA Annual Conference in San Antonio. Since then, TEN has been promoting evaluation and building evaluation capacity throughout the state, providing professional development opportunities, and establishing venues for networking and the exchange of theoretical, methodological, and practical knowledge. Some local affiliates are statewide or regional, and others serve specific metropolitan areas.

This week I’m excited to share that AEA365 will share blogs that were written by evaluators who will be presenting at the TEN Virtual Institute.

What are the benefits of joining a local affiliate?

Let me start by sharing the benefits you may get by joining your local affiliate. They include:

• Opportunities to network and meet other evaluators in your state and local community.
• Professional development, including webinars and conferences or institutes at usually very affordable costs.
• Supporting the growth of the evaluation profession in your state or area.
• Being in the loop to learn about job or consulting opportunities or other evaluation-related events or topics in your area.
• The annual membership dues are often very affordable.

Hot Tips

• Take advantage of networking opportunities offered by your local affiliate. Attend the lunches and happy hours—virtually or in person.
• Explore what is going on with other local affiliates, as many offer professional development opportunities that are open to individuals outside their state or locality, often at a reasonable cost.
• If you don’t have a local affiliate, find out if there is interest in your state or locality in forming one. If there is, complete the AEA New Affiliate Petition Form to begin the process.

Lessons Learned

• Local affiliates work best when members participate actively. Serving on the TEN board has provided me with opportunities to participate in helping to shape the organization and its activities, and to contribute to the profession.

Rad Resources

• Attend the TEN Virtual Institute on Thursday, March 26^th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Attendance and presenting at the TEN Virtual Institute is open to evaluators anywhere in the world, not just Texas! The theme this year is “Curiosity in Action: Asking Better Questions for a Complex World.” The keynote speaker for this year’s Institute is Dr. Rodney Hopson, a nationally recognized scholar in the field whose work has profoundly shaped the theory and practice of Culturally Responsive Evaluation. Dr. Hopson’s keynote title is “Who Will Be Around for the Rebuild? Prerequisites for Tackling Wicked Problems in the Current Evaluation Political Moment of the 21^st Century.”
• While you are attending, pop in to the presentation by Asma Ali and me, “Asking the Right Questions: Using the P’s of Evaluation to Turn Curiosity into Action.”

The American Evaluation Association is hosting Texas Evaluation Network (TEN) Week with our colleagues in the TEN Affiliate. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from TEN 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.