Breathing Life into Metaevaluation: Embodied Reflective Practice for Evaluation Across Boundaries
Wednesday, November 18, 9am - 12pm
Facilitated by Libby Smith, Hosted by Deven Wisner (VIRB)
in person in Charlotte, NC
Evaluation concerns itself with holding up a mirror to programs, institutions, and communities, but what happens when we turn that mirror back on ourselves? Too often, traditional metaevaluation is framed as a rigid, technocratic checklist—a high-stakes audit that triggers evaluator anxiety, impostor syndrome, and a fear of "not doing it right".
But what if evaluating our own work could be an act of genuine learning, curiosity, and liberation?
In their 2024 Core Concepts in Evaluation chapter Tovey & Smith issued a call to action – “Evaluators themselves must take up the charge and practice metaevaluation with intention.” They envisioned a new story for metaevaluation, one that encompasses many practices and is met with humility and compassion. An ongoing and iterative practice that individuals and teams can engage in through principled reflection.
This interactive, three-hour workshop is the first public offering that invites us to hear & feel this call to action and begin to practice together. We will step into the "new story" of metaevaluation, reimagining it not as an isolated box-checking exercise, but as an accessible, humanistic, and continuous reflective practice.
Using somatic centering as our foundational anchor, we will ground ourselves to meet the vulnerable act of self-reflection with compassionate curiosity and humility. Through conscious breathwork, somatic grounding, and other reflective practices, we will explore how attuning to our nervous system expands our capacity to stay present with the messy, complex, and rigorous realities of our work.
Real reflection does not happen in a vacuum; it thrives in relational space. Together, we will navigate the concentric circles of metaevaluative practice, moving from quiet introspection outward into connection. We will focus on the transformative value of community, exploring how to cultivate the brave, trusted relationships necessary to build a network of "critical friends"—peers who can hold space for our growth, offer context-attuned feedback, and help us navigate the harder aspects of evaluation practice.
Whether you are seeking to cross the boundary between rigid methodology and embodied practice, or simply looking for a grounded, relational space to nourish your professional life, this workshop is an open invitation to breathe new life into your work.
What We’ll Practice Together
Somatic Centering & Breathwork: We’ll use foundational body- and breath-based practices to feel our own nervous system at work, quiet the fear of judgment, and build the internal capacity required for honest reflection.
Rewriting the Narrative: Move beyond the technocratic "old story" that often reinforces dominant power structures, stepping into a "new story" that explicitly centers equity, contextual attunement, and metaevaluation as a tool for systemic learning and liberation.
Explore the Concentric Circles of Practice: Map out how reflection inherently flows towards relational space—moving from personal journaling and deep introspection outward to honest dialogue with clients, collaborators, and the broader field.
Cultivate "Critical Friends" & Community: Learn how to build and sustain relational spaces where we can show up with vulnerability, ask deep reflective questions, and offer compassionate accountability to one another.
Embrace Alternative Practices: Begin to gather an embodied toolkit -- weaving together somatic awareness, qualitative reflection, and principled evidence to define what "good" evaluation looks like.