Our members are AWESOME! Member Spotlight is a new, quarterly blog and member newsletter feature created to make space to learn about each other and the breadth of talent existing in the Greater Boston Area.
This month's Member Spotlight is Eric Williamson.
Name: Eric Williamson 
Social Media Handle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ewilliamson3/
How do you engage with GBEN? I am on the Programming and Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committees
Occupation & Field of Work: Educational Evaluation and Research Ph.D. Candidate at Boston College
How did you get started? Discovering evaluation was a happy mistake for me - I enrolled in BC's Educational Evaluation and Research program in 2016 because as a classroom teacher, I had used educational research to inform my teaching, and I wanted to learn how to contribute to this body of research. As part of the curriculum, I took two courses on evaluation, and the rest is history! I completed the M.Ed. program in 2018 and continued on in the Ph.D. track, becoming a candidate in Fall of 2020.
Why do you continue to work in evaluation? My strongest professional motivation is helping to ensure that all children in America have equal access to a safe, successful, and fulfilling life. I have found evaluation to be one of the best levers we have to work toward this goal, helping programs dedicated to equity deliver on their promises.
What do you like about what you do? As a people person, I very much enjoy the balance between working with program stakeholders, and (as someone who would like to think of themselves as a critical thinker--jury's still out on that one!) brainstorming ways to drive programs towards more equitable outcomes.
Of what aspect of your work to date are you most proud? Just this past November, the first evaluation that I assisted on was completed, and I got to experience the evaluation process from design to reporting. A small feat, but one that I am proud of!
Of all your accomplishments outside of work of which are you most proud? As a nerd of all things science-fiction, I'm proud that I had a short story published in a small science-fiction magazine back in 2015. I also had the opportunity back in 2019 to visit the recipient of bone marrow I had donated a few years prior, an act that is probably the thing I am most proud of in my life so far.
What are you currently reading, listening to and/or binge-watching? Currently listening to the audiobook of Volume One of President Obama's memoir, A Promised Land. Currently reading China Mieville's The City & The City, and Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Future. Binge-watching the Office, as always!
Interested in being spotlit? E-mail Dana@backofhtenapkinconsulting.com. We look forward to celebrating your efforts.
