EDC's Goodyear Elected President of American Evaluation Association

WALTHAM, MA | EDC principal research scientist Leslie Goodyear has been elected president of the American Evaluation Association (AEA). She will serve a three-year term beginning as president-elect in January 2017 and then as president in 2018. The 7,700-member association, representing evaluators from across the United States and in 60 countries, seeks to improve evaluation practices and methods and increase the use of evaluation in all fields of endeavor.

Goodyear, who holds a PhD in program evaluation and planning from Cornell University, has significant experience leading complex evaluations of local and national programs and systems. She has conducted evaluations in both formal and informal educational settings that serve youth, with a recent focus on programs aimed at broadening participation in the STEM fields.

“Leslie’s election to this important position is not only a testament to her skills, but also to her professionalism and advocacy for rigorous evaluation,” said EDC President and CEO David Offensend. “Our clients turn to EDC for cutting-edge evaluation, and they come back to us because of the quality of our work. We plan to work closely with AEA to strengthen the role of evaluation in the education and health communities and others that we serve.”

Earlier in her 13-year tenure at EDC, Goodyear took a leave to serve as a program officer at the National Science Foundation, where she administered national grants programs, supervised evaluation and research contracts, and developed directorate and division-level evaluation policy. She has been an active member of the evaluation community, serving as the associate editor of the American Journal of Evaluation, a past board member of AEA, and former chair of the AEA Ethics Committee.

“I am honored and humbled to be selected by my peers for this position,” said Goodyear. “Anyone who knows me knows I am passionate about high-quality evaluation as a foundation for informed decision making and organizational learning. I strongly value a collaborative approach, and as president, I hope to foster dialogue among evaluators of different stripes within the association and with other organizations, policymakers, scholars, and practitioners. I will also work to continue AEA’s investments in evaluation scholarship and innovation. “

Her election will be formally recognized at Evaluation 2016, AEA’s national conference in October 24–29 in Atlanta, where Goodyear and her EDC colleagues will also present several sessions.

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EDC designs, implements, and evaluates programs to improve education, health, and economic opportunity worldwide. Visit www.edc.org.