Tessie Tzavaras Catsambas is the co-founder and CEO of EnCompass LLC. She has created and implemented an appreciative, strengths-based model for management and evaluation, is co-author of the first text on this topic (Reframing Evaluation Through Appreciative Inquiry, Sage Publications, June 2006), and has continued to publish on the importance of incorporating an appreciative approach to management, learning, and evaluation. Her most recent book Evaluation Management: How to Commission and Conduct Evaluations that Matter with Dr. Jane Davidson was released in early 2024 by Sage Publications.

Ms. Catsambas was president of the American Evaluation Association in 2019. In 2015, she received the International EvalPartners Award in recognition of her “leadership, creativity, and exceptional contributions to the global evaluation community.”

Ms. Catsambas holds a bachelor’s in economics and political science from the College of Wooster and a master’s in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is bilingual in Greek and English and fluent in French.