Hey—we’re Kassira Absar and Jill Lipski Cain, consultants here at The Improve Group (IG).
Happy New Year, from all of us at The Improve Group! For many of us, the turn of a new year involves reflecting on how far we’ve come in the past 12 months and planning for the next. Often, that involves setting goals.
You're probably aware of the Census, the election, and the Olympics. But did you know that 2020 also marks The Improve Group’s 20-year anniversary? We are thrilled to celebrate with you all year. And, like our community-responsive approach to evaluation, we want to engage you all—our extended family—in planning and celebrating this momentous occasion!
Hey—I’m Sara Stalland McGarraugh, a Managing Consultant here at The Improve Group, and I’m excited to discuss evaluation frameworks for this mo
With the American Evaluation Conference happening right in our backyard this year, The Improve Group had a strong presence, from presenting at sessions, to co-sponsoring Topical Interest Group (TIG) socials, to hosting our improv party Friday night—thanks to everyone who came! As we made our way around sessions (and on that long trek back-and-forth between the hotel and convention center), we percolated on a couple themes that came up in addition to the declared conference theme, “Paths to the future of evaluation” …
*Note: In the article below, “person” or “people” refers to people who receive Medicaid HCBS waiver services.
At The Improve Group, we’re always looking for ways to be more person-centered in our work and our language.
Ope—have you heard the news? The American Evaluation Association annual conference is taking place in our backyard this year! We send a cohort of IG-ers to the conference every year—whether it is in Washington, D.C., Cleveland, or Atlanta—and so are excited to host all our evaluation friends and colleagues here this year!
Over the summer we said a bittersweet goodbye to Jennifer Obinna, one of The Improve Group’s Directors of Consulting and a member of our organization since 2013. Jennifer is returning to independent consulting, which she did before joining IG. While we will miss Jennifer’s presence in the office, we are glad she will continue to be a resource for when her skills can complement ours, and vice versa.