Paida Chikate is a PhD student in Evaluation Studies and Data Analytics in the College of Education and Human Development. Her background is in international development, gender parity and evaluation. She has worked for the Open Society Foundations with small scale West African female farmers and for the United Nations on Sustainable Development Goals 5 AND 6 in Africa. Locally, she has worked with the Metropolitan Council to evaluate access to the seven county transit system for people living with disabilities. She is a community oriented evaluator who believes that the experiences stakeholders bring can improve programs locally and globally, when listened to and applied. She holds an MPP from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and an MA from Minnesota State University.