Golden is the sand: Memory and hope in evaluation policy and evaluation practice

Going from thought to action in influencing evaluation policy is an overdue, untried, and perhaps anxious‐making role for the American Evaluation Association. We will need good courage, sustained conversation, and the widest views. The courage is needed in remembering that although this isn't going to be fast or easy, evaluation policies make a big enough difference to be worth a big effort. Sustained conversation is needed to find the common ground that exists in practice, while perhaps trying a little benign neglect of the diversity that exists in theoretical stances. Widest views that include in‐depth understanding of globalization and other broad changes are needed so our policies can be appropriate for the half‐century ahead, rather than the 50 years past.