Q: What evaluation approaches inform your practice? Do you gravitate more toward quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods?
A: I am a qualitative girlie and proud of it, because there is information that is needed for decision-making that numbers cannot provide.
Q: Why did you become an evaluator?
A: I became an evaluator on accident. I did not know it was a job or a field, but I knew that evaluators were the first people in graduate school who validated how I moved in the world. I appreciated being seen and valued and wanted to make sure I was in the space to give that to others.
Q: How do you build trust with projects you’re evaluating?
A: Slowing down at the beginning to understand what is happening with all interest holders so that we begin with an awareness of one another.
Q: What’s your favorite pastime or hobby?
Hot yoga and hot Pilates at a Black woman–owned studio in Milwaukee! It’s my third space, and I take at least three classes a week there!
Q: What’s something quirky or unique about you that people may not know?
A: I have a pet tortoise named Franklin and I plan on him outliving me.
monique liston
Chief Strategist, UBUNTU Research and EvaluationWhat happens when Black identity is loved, protected, and defended as we collectively learn about process and change in organizations and programs? Dr. monique liston built her life’s work around this question. She is the founder, chief strategist, and joyful militant at UBUNTU Research and Evaluation, a learning organization honored with Milwaukee Business Journal's Diversity in Business Award. She also leads The Leadership Undercommons, which advances Black dignity through learning and leadership. A proud Howard University alum, Monique is a 2025 Milwaukee Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree, the first and only honorary Public Allies alum, and HBCU Alumni United Milwaukee’s Alum of the Year. In 2025, she published her first poetry book, FRACTALS. She is the daughter of Ursula, granddaughter of Gracie J. and Bernice, and pet-mom to Simone (a mini Goldendoodle) and Franklin (a Russian tortoise). Send her your best bookstore, restaurant, and beach recommendations for surviving the end of the world.
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EvaluATE is supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number 2332143. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed on this site are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.