I vividly remember when one of the professors at American University reached out to me in early 2009 to ask me if I’d like to participate in the proposal preparation for an NSF grant on teacher preparation (Noyce Scholarship). I read the solicitation and assessed my time commitments. I was in the midst of completing an evaluation for the UNCF-network. The timing couldn’t have been better. In fall 2009, AU was awarded the grant and I was brought on board as the external evaluator on MNA’s first Noyce grant evaluation. (Since then, we have engaged in eight Planning and tracks 1 and 4 Noyce Grants since then.)
Fast forward to 2022.
Just last week, we signed a contract with the Catholic University of America to begin working as the external evaluator on their Track 1 IUSE grant called the Enhancing Student Help-seeking behavior And Reinforcing Problem-solving skills (E-SHARP). This particular grant constituted the 50th NSF grant evaluation for MNA.
Over these 13 years, we have closely collaborated and engaged in evaluating NSF grants in these 19 programs: AISL, ATE, CAREER, Conference, CREST (Capacity building and Full), EHR-CORE, Broadening Participation in STEM, HBCU-UP (Planning, Full implementation, and TIP), INCLUDES-DDLP, ITEST, IUSE, HSI-IUSE, MSP-STEM +C, Noyce, (NRT), PREM, RCN-UBE, RET, S-STEM.
Today is a day of reflection of how far we have come and a celebration for the exciting explorations that await us.
My heartfelt thank you goes out to all our team members and colleagues, past and current clients, and partners who have walked this journey with us and intend to do so in the coming years.
It’s really about the people who we have worked with all these years. MNA’s NSF work could not have been as impactful and rewarding without you. Thank you!
