Dear Fellow AEA Members,
Later this month, AEA will launch the Call for Proposals for Evaluation 2026. Submissions will be due in late April. We are writing to give you a preview of what to expect and to share an important update on how the conference will be organized, so you can begin planning.
Moving to Learning-Focused Streams
Beginning with Evaluation 2026, proposals will be submitted to one of five conference streams designed to highlight learning pathways and create a more coherent, navigable program:
- Foundations and Core Practice
- Design, Methods, Evidence, and Use
- Equity, Culture, and Justice in Evaluation
- Innovation, Complexity, Systems, and Futures
- Building Professional Community Within and Beyond AEA
The stream-based structure is intended to:
- Improve clarity and navigability
- Ensure consistent review criteria are applied across submissions
- Maintain subject-matter expertise while reducing topical fragmentation across sessions
- Align the scale of the conference with current reductions in AEA membership and conference attendance
Read the full descriptions for each of the five streams on the conference website to help you determine which stream most closely aligns with your proposed session.
Sustaining TIG Leadership and Community
We know many of you care deeply about the role of Topical Interest Groups (TIGs) in shaping the conference and the profession. These changes reflect months of analysis and member engagement focused on strengthening the conference, sustaining the communities that make AEA strong, and ensuring the fiscal sustainability of the conference.
We deeply value the substantial volunteer labor TIGs contribute each year. TIGs remain vital to AEA’s professional community and leadership pipeline. The move to streams shifts how proposals are organized and reviewed, from 55 unique review processes to five. TIG leadership and all AEA members will be major contributors to this process.
While sessions will no longer be submitted to individual TIGs, the intent is not to replace or diminish TIGs. Instead, it is to shift the management of reviews to a more diverse group of reviewers and to support TIGs in continuing to develop and curate TIG-specific activities both during and between the conferences. TIGs will continue to mentor submitters, have opportunities to curate a TIG-sponsored conference session, serve as reviewers within stream-based teams, and build professional community before, during, and beyond the conference.
Why This Change?
Post-conference feedback consistently highlights two primary reasons members attend: learning and connection. Feedback also indicated that many attendees, particularly first-timers, found past conference programs/structures difficult to navigate. At the same time, financial and logistical realities require a more coordinated and sustainable model for proposal submission, review, and program design, including a reduction in the number of concurrent sessions that better aligns with current membership and conference attendance levels.
We recognize that change can raise concerns. We have heard questions about voice, governance, and volunteer roles. We want to assure you that we are committed to clear, regular communication, ongoing evaluation, and structured opportunities for input as this year and Evaluation 2026 unfold.
What Happens Next
You can preview the Call for Proposals before it goes live in March. The preview also shows you what to expect for the new proposal submission form, including new questions, refined session formats (previously types), and a reaffirmation of previous participation limits to ensure equity of participation in the conference program. We also want to draw your attention to an important change for this year. Individual papers (i.e., not part of a multipaper panel submission) and Ignite sessions will only be accepted as poster submissions for Evaluation 26. As in previous years, you may also submit a regular poster proposal.
When the proposal submission portal opens in March, we will also share updated review criteria and more information about the review process, including a call for reviewers.
We are grateful for the care members bring to AEA, whether through TIG leadership, reviewing proposals, mentoring colleagues, attending conferences, or contributing ideas. That commitment is what makes this community strong, and it is central to how we are approaching this next chapter.
We look forward to your proposals and to building Evaluation 2026 together.
If you have questions, comments, input, or feedback you would like to share, please don’t hesitate to contact our Conference Advisory Working Group co-chairs: Dana Linnell (dana@danalinnell.com) and Jan Noga (Jan.Noga@alumni.stanford.edu), or Anisha Lewis, Executive Director (alewis@eval.org).
Proposal Submission Tips Webinar
"Prepare, Set, Submit! Submitting a Proposal for Evaluation 2026"
Thursday, April 9 | 2 p.m. ET
Learn hot tips and cool tricks for submitting session proposals for Evaluation 2026 during this encore presentation of the successful session presented in 2024 by the Evaluation 2024 Local Arrangement Working Group and AEA Affiliate, Oregon Program Evaluation Network (OPEN).
With over a decade of experience leading AEA conference sessions, Kim Leonard and Sheila Robinson will guide you through the submission process, share valuable insights, and answer your questions. In addition, they will share resources to help you get started. Conference Advisory Working Group Co-Chairs Dana Linnell and Jan Noga, along with AEA staff, will also guide you through key changes in the submission process as they pertain to the conference redesign.
Register today to secure your spot and get ready to make an impact at Evaluation 2026!
Stay tuned for more information regarding when the Evaluation 2026 session proposals will open for your submissions. We accept proposals from all those interested in sharing their ideas.