Evaluation Café announces fall 2025 speaker lineup: Learn, connect, and get inspired

KALAMAZOO, Mich.— Western Michigan University’s Evaluation Café has announced its fall 2025 speaker lineup. The Café offers a forum for researchers, practitioners, and students to learn, exchange ideas, and engage in dialogue about current issues in evaluation.

The fall series will feature speakers who bring diverse perspectives, share real-world challenges, and showcase their latest work in the field of evaluation. All sessions begin at noon Eastern and are free and open to the public.

Events take place in person at 4410 Ellsworth Hall on WMU’s main campus and are also available virtually via Zoom.

Fall 2025 Evaluation Café Schedule

• September 24: Michele Girard, Founder, Ivanhoe Development, "Program maturity for community-based organizations: How finance, evaluation, and design intertwine."
• October 8: Kelly Robertson, and Megan Lopez, Western Michigan University, "Building trust and capacity: Adapting our evaluation practices for small and grassroots nonprofits."
• October 22: Mary Gayen, Alana Bartley, and Julio Cano Villalobos, Corewell Health, "The evaluation journey: Insights, growth, failures, and value."
• November 5: Koren A. Dennison, UBUNTU Research & Evaluation, Dr. Carolina S. Sarmiento, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Aurealia-ShaVaun L. Johnson, The YWCA Madison, "Liberation through evaluation: Community-centered approaches.
• November 19:  Andrea Allen, AC Insights, and Kenlana Ferguson, Michigan Transformative Collective, "Truth-based philanthropy, learning, and evaluation."
• December 3:  Carl E. Hanssen, Hanssen Consulting, "Evaluation in corporate contexts: Making the transition from education to training."

Community members are invited to mark their calendars, register, and join the series to connect with colleagues and gain new insights into evaluation practice and scholarship. You can learn more about Evaluation Cafe and register for presentations here.