AEA Members - Nominate Milestones Shaping Evaluation Field

Nina Sabarre, PhD and I are giving MILLENNIAL LEADER energy during the opening plenary at AEA! and…. WE NEED YOUR HELP! We want to hear from you about the significant milestones, important events, or influential ideas that have led the evaluation field to where we are today. We are looking for nominations of people, ideas, methods, moments, and movements that have made an impact on AEA and the evaluation landscape within one of the following categories: Evolution of AEA — organizational moments, structural shifts, founding story. This is the "inside AEA" lane. Innovations in the Field — methods, frameworks, technology, emerging approaches. The "how we do evaluation" lane. The World We Were Evaluating — grounding items in what was happening globally when AEA hit key milestones (1986, 1996, 2006, 2016, 2026). For example: "in 1996 the Atlanta Olympics were taking place... and AEA was celebrating its 10th birthday". Impact & Implications — examples where evaluation changed something real. The "why it matters" lane. LIC! 👀