Leslie Goodyear, EDC distinguished scholar and principal evaluation director, is an internationally recognized expert in evaluation and evaluation capacity building. She is past president of the American Evaluation Association and a sought-after advisor on questions related to evaluation ethics, evaluation systems, and responsive evaluation. She was honored to receive the 2025 AEA Alva and Gunnar Myrdal Evaluation Practice Award, which is given to an evaluation practitioner whose contributions to the field of evaluation have been influential, substantial, and sustained.

Leslie specializes in evaluating educational improvement initiatives including afterschool programs; youth development programs; and STEM education programs in K-12, informal, and higher education settings. She has deep expertise in building evaluation communities of practice, mixed-method and qualitative inquiry, responsive evaluation, and evaluation ethics.

Leslie leads evaluations large and small for federal, state, and philanthropic clients. Her recent evaluations include Peter Kiewit Foundation Engineering Academy, the Illinois 21st Century Community Learning Center Program, the National Academies Societal Experts Action Network, and multiple evaluation capacity building initiatives for the National Science Foundation (NSF).

As a program officer at NSF, Leslie oversaw awards and commissioned evaluations. She served as the Ethics Section and associate editor of the American Journal of Evaluation and was chair of AEA’s Ethics Committee. She is co-editor of Qualitative Inquiry in Evaluation.

Leslie holds a PhD and MS in Program Evaluation and Planning from Cornell University and a BA in Developmental Psychology from Macalester College.