Meet the Team: Eva Maria Chavez

Our Meet the Team blog series gives you a glimpse into our team members' approach to working with our partners to achieve better results for communities. Today we’re getting to know Senior Consultant Eva Maria Chavez. 

Me and My Mama

What is your role at Engage R+D?

I am a senior research consultant which means, first and foremost, a lot of facilitation and getting to know people, partners, nonprofits, and community. I get to see folks uplift their own “aha” moments. My role is to help them get there and pose questions and stay back and be comfortable in the silence. I have been told that I make evaluation fun and make the uncomfortable comfortable. 

What experience do you bring to this work? 

I did a lot of my training as an evaluator through international development work in Kenya, South Korea, Spain, and Mexico.  I also bring my experience in youth development executing participatory and community-based approaches. And I come from the perspective of being first gen, so, when it comes to evaluating services and programs (CalFresh for example), I’ve been on the receiving end of some of these services. I run survey questions and design protocols by my mom. She helps me understand what is accessible and meaningful. At the end of the day, my job is to make sure that my work is not jargony, that it's simplified. 

Can you share something that motivates you? 

My mother! For my mother and grandparents, I am their wildest dream. We came from a small ranch in Mexico, and I grew up in low-income housing. As the first one in the family to graduate high school, it’s a lot of pressure. My mom is 67 and she is getting her GED. She just got selected for the National Adult Education Honor Society, an organization that recognizes students who demonstrate exceptional dedication to achieving their education. She’s fierce, loving, and resilient.

What do you love about your job? 

The variety of projects is a big part of why I love consulting, being able to talk about workers rights and then go straight to dual language learning in early childcare and then jumping to a project working with Latinos in Santa Ana for a collective micro farm. It’s beautiful. My brain is interested in so many things. 

I've also realized that I need to be in a place that is small. At Engage R+D I can be in community with coworkers; I can just get on Slack and chat and really check in. Making time for that has been a huge piece for me. Getting to know people is my number one priority, and, the fact that this is a small firm and strong community, I'm able to do that.

What are you exploring outside of work these days?

I do fake yoga and what I mean by that is that I can't do relaxing yoga. My yoga happens in 114 degree heat with weights and lets me get my energy all the way out. I also hang out with my new cat, Fred Hampton, and my brother, who is just a joy. We go to WrestleMania together, which is fun and dorky and I love it.