Keynote and Panelists

Bagele Chilisa, Ed.D. is a renowned post-colonial scholar, researcher, author, educator, and African thought leader. She earned her doctoral degree. in Policy, Planning, and Evaluation at the University of Pittsburgh. As a full professor at the University of Botswana, she has facilitated courses in research design, policy design, and measurement and evaluation. Her interest in community-based research motivated her to write extensively on indigenous knowledge and publish the book Indigenous Research Methodologies, which has sparked international discourse on the importance of indigenous methodologies. The U.S. National Institutes of Health recognized her with the prestigious Research Award on Capacity Building on HIV/AIDS.

Mohamed Abdel-Kader serves as USAID’s Chief Innovation Officer and Executive Director of the Innovation, Technology, and Research Hub. In these roles, he oversees various Agency mechanisms to promote the application of innovation, technology, and research for greater aid effectiveness within USAID and the inter-agency, and with our partners in the international development community, private sector, and civil society. He served in the Obama administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International and Foreign Language Education in the U.S. Department of Education and later led the Aspen Institute’s Stevens Initiative, an international ed-tech program. A speaker of fluent Arabic and basic Spanish, Mohamed is a Truman National Security Fellow, an Eisenhower Fellow, and the author of a children’s book about stereotypes. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Clemson University, a master’s degree in Higher Education from Vanderbilt University, and an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

Dr. Ayesha Boyce is an associate professor within the Division of Educational Leadership and Innovation at Arizona State University. She has evaluated more than 60 programs funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institutes of Health, and the Spencer and Teagle foundations. She also co-directs the STEM Program Evaluation Lab. Dr. Boyce’s scholarship focuses on attending to value stances and issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, access, cultural responsiveness, and social justice within evaluation, especially multi-site, STEM, and contexts with historically marginalized populations. Dr. Boyce is a 2019 American Evaluation Association (AEA) Marcia Guttentag Promising New Evaluator Award recipient and a 2019 UNC Greensboro School of Education Distinguished Research Scholar Award recipient. In her teaching and mentorship, Boyce encourages students to develop a strong methodological foundation, conduct studies based on democratic principles, and promote equity, fairness, inclusivity, and diversity. She is an AEA board member, an associate editor for Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, a Co-Section Editor, Ethics, Values, & Culture Section, American Journal of Evaluation, and an affiliate faculty for the Center for Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment.

Dr. Paul Elam is the Chief Strategy Officer for MPHI, while also serving as a faculty member of The Evaluators’ Institute at Claremont Graduate University. His deep understanding of youth violence and prevention, crime and justice, and child maltreatment is nationally recognized. His current leadership efforts include mentoring and training professionals from historically underrepresented groups in culturally responsive and equitable engagement to ensure that the people who are most impacted are at the center of conversations that seek to find solutions to problems affecting them. Dr. Elam works closely with governmental, philanthropic, university, and nonprofit clients, providing strategic consultation to advance decisions in ways that improve lives, advance social justice, and produce equitable outcomes. Dr. Elam earned a PhD in Family and Child Ecology, a master’s degree in Criminal Justice and Urban Studies, and a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, all from Michigan State University.

Dr. Anne Vo is an Associate Professor of Health Systems Science and Senior Director of Assessment and Evaluation at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine where she leads the development and execution of the school’s educational evaluation strategies and policies. As a research methodologist and systems scientist, Dr. Vo has provided consultation services and evaluation support to more than 35 social services programs and organizations—publicly and privately funded. She has held regional and national leadership roles with the American Evaluation Association, American Educational Research Association, and the Southern California Evaluation Association. Dr. Vo has published in journals such as the American Journal of Evaluation, New Directions for Evaluation, and Evaluation and Program Planning. She has also published and edited such works as Evaluation Essentials: From A to Z; Evaluative Thinking; and Evaluation Use and Decision-Making in Society. Dr. Vo earned a PhD, master’s degree, and bachelor’s degree all from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).