Symonette, H., Mertens, D. M., & Hopson, R. (2014). The development of a diversity ini- tiative: Framework for the Graduate Education Diversity Internship (GEDI) program. In P.M. Collins & R. Hopson (Eds.), Building a new generation of culturally responsive eval- uators through AEA’s Graduate Education Diversity Internship program. New Directions for Evaluation, 143, 9–22. 1 The Development of a Diversity Initiative: Framework for the Graduate Education Diversity Internship (GEDI) Program Hazel Symonette, Donna M. Mertens, Rodney Hopson Abstract The purpose of this chapter is to provide a historical framing for the development of the American Evaluation Association’s (AEA’s) Graduate Education Diversity Internship (GEDI) program as an outgrowth of the AEA’s Building Diversity Ini- tiative (BDI). This chapter provides historical documentation of the AEA’s BDI and the origins of the GEDI program and discusses how this represents an im- portant part of AEA’s history. We discuss the circumstances that led up to the decision to begin the BDI, the organizational dynamics of bringing about the changes that BDI and GEDI stimulated in AEA and the evaluation profession, and the implications of this process for AEA’s evolution as a culturally respon- sive organization.  Wiley Periodicals, Inc., and the American Evaluation Association. Laying the Groundwork to AEA as a Culturally Responsive Organization The development of the AEA GEDI initiative was a joint effort of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) and the W. K. Kellogg Founda- tion to address the complexity of needs and expectations concerning eval- uators working across cultures and in diverse communities (BDI, 2001). The Building Diversity Initiative (BDI) was guided by the Project Advisory NEW DIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION, no. 143, Fall 2014  2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., and the American Evaluation Association. Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) • DOI: 10.1002/ev.20090 9 COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL