Introducing the new BetterEvaluation career guide: Positionality statement and introduction from Maria Montenegro

Our positionality influences the design, implementation, and interpretation of findings in our evaluations. In the same way, people’s positionality shapes their opinions, the opportunities they have, and the choices they can make in their career.

I am Maria Montenegro, a Young and Emerging Evaluator and consultant who helped develop the content for the Evaluation career guide on BetterEvaluation. My focus when developing this guide for young and emerging evaluators was rooted in recognising how our diverse backgrounds shape our professional journeys, and it aims to support others in understanding and navigating these influences. For this reason, I think the best way to start my introduction is to share my positionality statement with you.

As you navigate your career, you will receive many gifts in the form of career tips and learnings from others’ journeys. Remembering that people’s positionality influences their journeys and views towards building a career, can help you shape your own unique journey. 

The importance of my positionality

As an Ecuadorian immigrant to Canada, I have navigated the complexities of being a visible minority woman in both my host country and in the field of evaluation. Despite a privileged upbringing and education, I’ve faced challenges in developing the competencies needed to be an evaluator and have experienced discrimination in my career due to my gender identity. As a young evaluator, I welcome opportunities to change the way we’ve always done work to improve our practice and field. These experiences have made me passionate about supporting others to build their evaluation careers.

My experiences, identity, and position have also strongly shaped my views on building a career in evaluation. They also influence my access to knowledge, opportunities, and social networks. As such, my identity has influenced this work in the following ways:

1. Career journey: As someone who did not have a formal education in evaluation, I went through the process of trying to figure out how to start and grow my career without formal guidance. Through my involvement as co-founder and previous Chair of EvalYouth North America and American Evaluation Association representative to EvalYouth, I gained awareness of the shared and unique challenges other young and emerging evaluators face in building their own careers. My aim when creating content for the Evaluation career guide was to answer the most common questions and challenges people experience.
2. Promoting equity: I often pay attention to who is and isn’t present in events, conferences, textbooks, and publications. Early on in my evaluation journey, I realized there were not many people that looked like me. Being exposed to great works of others, I later learned that many groups have been silenced, excluded, or erased in our field. For this reason, I thought it was important for people starting their career to learn the context and history of our field because it influences who we see, who we learn from, and how we do our work. As part of this work, we’re curating a series of guest blogs aimed at young and emerging evaluators, including a number of blogs on the topic of equity in the field of M&E, that I’m excited to share with you next year.
3. Self-reflection: I worked on this contract in 2024, while I was experiencing a pivotal point in my life after receiving a diagnosis for Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Self-reflection has played a key role in navigating this information and understanding how it impacts my life and my well-being. Beyond being a competency required in evaluation, self-reflection is extremely important as we navigate our career because it helps us understand our values, learn and grow, and inform the many decisions we will face. For this reason, the guide has multiple self-reflection exercises. I encourage you to navigate the content with a notebook in hand and to spend time reflecting and writing answers to the prompts.
4. Career development philosophy: I am grateful for having this opportunity to help shape and develop this content, especially because I have recently consolidated my passion for career advising. Although I was selected after an application and interviewing process, this opportunity was the direct result of what Mitchell, Levin and Krumboltz (1999) call ‘Planned Happenstance’ - a career development theory that promotes increasing the likelihood of having opportunities from unplanned events. My curiosity led me to EvalYouth, a network that I was involved in for several years where I contributed to several career development initiatives to support young and emerging evaluators. I have taken risks throughout my career, more recently by launching my podcast The Evaluation Couch where I discuss topics related to navigating a career in evaluation. I have taken action and remained flexible, ultimately leading me to act on the referral to apply for this contract. I believe that Planned Happenstance can help everyone grow their career. Throughout the career guide, we've included a number of tips to help you embrace Planned Happenstance in your career.
5. Elevating others: Increasing your visibility is a strategic move for your career but amplifying others is equally important. For this reason, I did my best to include diverse voices and perspectives, keeping in mind which groups are often overrepresented in the evaluation community. This required not defaulting to what was most convenient while balancing the amount of effort with the time I had for this contract. I appreciate all those who helped me connect with young and emerging evaluators through social media and the new connections I have developed thanks to this work.

This contract has been a rewarding experience as I am ready to take off my “young and emerging evaluator” hat and prepare to support the new generation of evaluators in a different capacity. Thank you for letting me be part of your career journey. I hope this content helps you navigate the lifelong journey you are on.