The new year is well upon us and we have been busy these past few weeks sowing seeds so that we might enjoy a bountiful harvest of new ideas, partnerships, art, and learning in 2018.
We're especially looking forward to a few developments that are getting off and running:
New Partnership with the University of Minnesota
For the next four months we'll be collaborating with a small team of students from the University of Minnesota who are interested in developmental evaluation, program design, and strategic planning to fast forward our DEI initiative. The students are studying in the Masters of Development Practice program, a curriculum which encourages thinking across academic disciplines in complex scenarios to work for sustainable, positive change. The team will be helping us imagine what DEI can grow into, developing pilot projects for you all to test, and asking for input and ideas from our community of supporters, including you who are reading this very blog!
Ways YOU can get involved in the process!
To grow and nurture this new initiative - we need your input! We'd like this space to be one for idea sharing and two-way communication. At its least, a blog shares updates and information (which isn't bad!), but at its best, an online forum can facilitate interaction between people halfway across the world. That is in part what we hope to accomplish, eventually, with DEI and so we hope that by commenting, contributing, and sharing, you will help us turn this into your site, as much as it is ours. If you have ideas or questions already about what you would like to see, post a comment! Send an e-mail! Don't be shy about letting us know what will keep you looking forward to checking in with us each week.
Moving forward with the Developmental Evaluation Institute (DEI)
Finally, we're pleased to announce another DEI weeklong training is in the works for late April of this year. Check back soon for updates, and know that we are mindfully preparing the course to be inclusive for people from all backgrounds and levels of experience.