New Beginnings

Heading down a new path

After 5 years of having this website, I am re-engaged, shifting gears, and dedicating this space to a new endeavor: an evaluation business. When I first created this site during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, my plan was to use it, along with the podcast I hope to start, to highlight the increadible work of everyday Toledo residents who were finding ways to strengthen our community. That desire to uplift local stories and shine the light on community improvement (doing better in Toledo) has never left me.

As I move into running my own business, that core ideal remains at the heart of my work. Under the new name Iluminar Insights, I will partner with people, non-profits, and organizations who are striving to improve their programs and deepen their impact. The focus is on providing the evaluation, education, and data services that help organizations understand what is working, what could be strengthened, and how to make informed decisions that support their mission and goals.

The aim of Iluminar Insights is simple: to build meaningful partnerships that help organizations measure their impact using data in ways that are practical and grounded in community realities. Our work will draw upon participatory research methods, both qualitative and quantitative, and include developing logic models, guiding theory of change processes, and designing evaluations that reflect the voices and experiences at the heart of each project or program.

This new chapter feels like a natural extension of the original vision for this space: illuminating the work that people do every day to make their communities better. I’m excited to continue that work in a new form and look forward to sharing more as Iluminar Insights grows.