Why life’s been humbling lately When I worked in schools, I knew many kids being raised by someone other than their biological parent. Unless they told me directly, I didn’t always know why these families looked the way they did or the circumstances they were going through. When I started in social work research over… Continue reading Why life’s been humbling lately
It’s time for spring cleaning! I really like to organize things. I get a thrill from dropping off a trunk full of donations and seeing my space a little less full. Don’t get me wrong though – with a 4-year old, obviously my home is a hot mess. No one ever told me how many… Continue reading It’s time for spring cleaning!
Is my guilty pleasure show evidence-based? A while back, I was telling a colleague that I had allowed myself to watch one season of my guilty pleasure show over winter break. What was the show? Married at First Sight. (Deep breath … Okay, I admitted it.) If you’re not familiar with the show, it is… Continue reading Is my guilty pleasure show evidence-based?
Head versus heart in evaluation Last Friday, I had a blast presenting at the Ohio Program Evaluators Group (OPEG) Spring Exchange about how we can use our evaluation skillset to empower and engage communities that are being silenced and harmed. My presentation was the last one on a full-day agenda featuring the work of many… Continue reading Head versus heart in evaluation
The good, the bad, and the really bad of data viz When I see a really great chart or graph (data visualization or “data viz”) … or a really terrible one, I’ll take a screenshot of it. I’m cool like that. But here’s why I do it. The really good ones get me excited, and… Continue reading The good, the bad, and the really bad of data viz
When numbers help, and when stories matter more I know I talk about data … a lot. But for me, it’s really not about the numbers. It’s not about the spreadsheets (I do still really love spreadsheets though). It’s not about the reports and fancy graphs and charts. It’s about the people behind those numbers. … Continue reading When numbers help, and when stories matter more
The scary things that data use is NOT I’m not going to lie, I still have occasional nightmares about high school calculus, even though that was … a lot of years ago. That class really made me feel like a failure. Clearly, deep in my subconscious, that has stuck with me. So I understand when… Continue reading The scary things that data use is NOT
Nothing like motherhood to change your perspective It was about 3 days into being a mom that I thought, “How could I have ever asked a mom to go to a PTO meeting!?” I laugh at myself now because I was clearly not inviting any newly postpartum parents to an event, but that moment was… Continue reading Nothing like motherhood to change your perspective
The magic word for family-serving organizations I recently mentioned to someone how I believe that building your data capacity and being able to tell the story of your impact can help your organization get more funding. He perked up, wrote down “funding” on his paper, and underlined it twice. I chuckled and asked, “Did I… Continue reading The magic word for family-serving organizations
When I was updating my website recently, I came across a post I wrote when my daughter was a newborn, talking about the metrics that were relevant to me at the time. It listed things like how many ounces she was eating at a time, how little sleep we got each night, and how many… Continue reading Choosing the metrics that matter (toddler version)
