In Spring 2025, two evaluators situated in the Southeastern U.S. came together in reflective dialogue to explore how our positionalities shape our evaluation practice. Across recorded conversations and reflections both individually and together, we examined how our identities, values, and experiences have and continue to shape every component of our work, from its technocratic, positivist-leaning, “science” aspects to its relational, deliberative, educative dimensions. Positionality that hides is where evaluative integrity dies. We argue that positionality is an evolving stance that must be actively revisited throughout the evaluation process. Through this dialogue, we surfaced tensions between authenticity and strategic invisibility, care and institutional constraint, and extractive norms and relational accountability. Through this paper, we aim to articulate a deeper understanding of how positionality functions in practice, how reflective dialogue can illuminate power and ambiguity, and what it means to reframe evaluation as a fundamentally political, relational, and humanizing endeavor.
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