Expanding the Bench® (ETB) is part of a collaborative field-building movement and is informed by a diverse, multi-stakeholder team of thought partners from the evaluation ecosystem. This team offers strategic direction, feedback, and recommendations to guide the development and growth of ETB.
With decades of combined experience in their fields, our Advisory Team members help us better understand and address the needs of the broader community.
Structure
All Advisory Team members sit on one of three workgroups. The workgroups and their purpose include:
- Advise on short- and long-term direction of the ACE Evaluation Network
- Identify professional development, networking, and community-building activities for Network Members
- Suggest ways to improve and enhance the online ACE Evaluation Network Database
- Recommend strategies to shift behavior amongst Funders of Evaluation to outreach and engage with CREE evaluators
Carlos Romero • President, Apex Evaluation
I founded Apex over 20 years ago and serve as chief evangelist for our approach to evaluation, which is rooted in systems thinking and learning. I have over 25 years of experience in program planning, evaluation, and facilitation. I hold a BS in Political Science and a Master’s in Business Administration. Our vision at Apex is simple, ambitious, and infinite: evaluation that works. Evaluation that works is a response to the myriad ways in which evaluation and data have not served the interests of organizations addressing wickedly complex issues or the vulnerable populations most impacted by their work. For this moment in time, I strive to make evaluation work better through a stronger, clearer, amplified mission of learning that: (a) promotes and facilitates thinking to initiate and inform the magnitude of innovation that is needed to break from the status quo; (b) stimulates and guides the rigorous and continuous learning from data to adapt and sustain meaningful and lasting change under dynamic, complex conditions; and (c) exposes and fights against bias and misuse of data that impedes progress toward a more equitable world.
Elizabeth Hutchinson Kruger • Evaluation Officer, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies
In my work I provide leadership, project management, and support practice of internal evaluation and learning in the non-profit and philanthropic sectors. My experience has spanned the globe and various phases of program design and implementation with multi-cultural teams. My work often includes designing and implementing learning and evaluation projects and providing technical assistance and capacity building on evaluative practice skills for public health, food security, disaster preparedness, conservation, animal welfare, refugee/immigrant, and community development programs. I see myself as a generalist with a passion for creativity, inclusion, learning and improvement for social change. My areas of deepest expertise are in my practice of collaboration and communication, while I’ve also had formal training and deep experience with many qualitative methods. I love to travel, read, and spend time outdoors. I’m a mother to two children (a preschooler and toddler) and two cats.
Michael Patrick Arnold, PhD, MPH, MSW • Director, Informing Change
For over 20 years, Dr. Michael Arnold has researched and evaluated efforts to reduce racial and intersectional disparities in health and wellbeing with a focus on systemic, organizational, and social equity. He is Co-Director of Informing Change, a strategic learning firm of diverse people united by the core belief that making meaning out of good data generates knowledge that can be used to accelerate progress toward equity. We combine the power of data with deliberate, inclusive meaning-making processes. An experienced consultant to large philanthropies and grassroots nonprofits alike, Michael is adept at tailoring projects to match client needs, supporting clients in growth and learning, and listening to and centering the voices of affected communities and individuals in projects. He holds a PhD, Master of Social Welfare, and a Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley. Michael’s recent clients include Youth Outside, the Marin Community Foundation, Frameline’s Youth in Motion, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, Girls Leadership, Oakland Leaf, School Linked Services of Santa Clara County, the James Irvine Foundation, the California Health Care Foundation, the California Wellness Foundation, Blue Shield Foundation of California, the Best Buy Foundation, and the Black Teacher Project.
Michelle Paul Heelan, PhD • Director, Human Capital, ICF
Dr. Paul Heelan offers over 20 years of experience leading the design/development, implementation, and evaluation of human capital systems in public, private and not-for-proKt organizations. Her expertise includes organizational assessment, leadership development program evaluation, operational/business process redesign, change management, and training/meeting facilitation. Dr. Paul Heelan’s emphasis on climate and culture change and assessing the bottom-line impact of multiple human resource initiatives helps her clients improve individual, group, and organizational performance. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology (summa cum laude) from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and her master’s and doctoral degrees in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Maryland College Park. Dr. Paul Heelan’s recent clients include the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. She is passionate about expanding access to innovative evaluation practices and multi-disciplinary approaches to evaluation to those who have been historically marginalized, and thus is honored to serve on the ETB Advisory Team.
Nicole Bowman (Lunaape/Mohican), PhD • Associate Scientist and President, University of WI Madison and Bowman Performance Consulting
Nicky (Lunaape/Mohican) is a traditional Ndulunaapeewi Kwe (Lunaape woman) and an evaluation innovator. Her academic lodge sits at the intersection of truth, spirituality, traditional knowledge, sovereignty, governance & evaluation.
Marcia Coné, PhD • Principal + Director of Practice Engagement and Evolution, Marcia Coné Consulting/ Equitable Evaluation Initiative
For three decades, Marcia has worked in partnership with foundations, nonprofits, and philanthropic service organizations and alongside grassroot and grasstop leaders to create cultures where intersectional equity is at the center. She brings a depth and breadth of experience that fuels her passion for moving individuals, organizations and systems away from traditional frameworks towards bold engagement and action that is a catalyst for sustainable change.
Shanesha Brooks-Tatum, PhD • Founding Vice President, Creative Research Solutions
Dr. Shanesha Brooks-Tatum is Founding Director of the National Center for Evaluation Assessment and Founding Vice President of Creative Research Solutions, LLC, an award-winning research and evaluation firm in the Atlanta metropolitan area that centers on culturally-responsive and equitable evaluation. She leads national and international evaluation, research, and strategy initiatives for organizations that help them document and broaden their impact. Her results-driven approach maximizes client resources and enables them to tap into new markets. Dr. Brooks-Tatum has served as a strategist or consultant for local, national and international organizations, including the UN Foundation, Reboot Representation, the Center for State and Territorial Epidemiologists, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Krupp Family Foundation, United Way of Greater Atlanta, Black Women’s Health Imperative, Technical College System of Georgia, and University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents. She earned her PhD from the University of Michigan (American Studies, social science and humanities concentrations), and her Bachelor’s Degree from UC Berkeley (Interdisciplinary Studies and English), summa cum laude. She has also held visiting professor and visiting scholar appointments at several colleges and universities. An invited radio and television guest and featured writer at news and media outlets, Dr. Brooks-Tatum is the author of several print and media publications in the fields of educational and community research, evaluation, and self-care.
Susan Ghanbarpour, DrPH, MA • Independent Consultant, Research and Evaluation
Susan Ghanbarpour, DrPH, MA (she/her) is an independent researcher and evaluator focusing on community-led and participatory methodologies. Dr. Ghanbarpour has expertise in culturally-responsive and equitable evaluation (CREE), as well as qualitative and mixed-methods research, and is co-author of the Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Toolkit for Domestic Violence Researchers. She uses a strengths-based approach to capacity building, to help partners cultivate evaluative thinking, adapt evidence-based practices, and develop inquiries that are meaningful to them. Her skills include using language justice practices in multilingual spaces, and integrating anti-racist and trauma-informed approaches informed by research justice principles. Her areas of inquiry include race and gender equity, and community health and well-being. Throughout her career, Dr. Ghanbarpour has worked to center the voices of marginalized communities, including communities of color, immigrants, and survivors of gender-based violence, so that they can tell the stories that are important to them. Dr. Ghanbarpour received her DrPH from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, MA in Health Policy from New York University, and AB in Chemistry from Cornell University. Her work is grounded in her lived experience as a mixed race woman of color from the Bronx.
Previous Workgroup Members
Efraín Gutierrez
Head of Impact and Evaluation,
Obama Foundation
Nicole Clark, LMSW
Program Design, Research and Evaluation Consultant,
Nicole Clark Consulting, LLC
- Offer guidance on fundraising strategy to support ETB
- Share experience and ideas related to Funders for CREE
- Facilitate connections with new investors and other sectors
Jackie Williams Kaye • Chief Learning & Evaluation Officer, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund
Jackie Williams Kaye (she/her) is the Chief Learning & Evaluation Officer at Wellspring Philanthropy Fund. Wellspring’s grantmaking supports work in the US and globally to advance human rights and social justice. Jackie supports Wellspring staff and grantees in using evaluation & research to inform grant making strategies and to learn from them. She spent the first phase of her career as a researcher and program evaluator in public health, education and other human service areas. In recent years she has helped lead an effort within philanthropy to improve evaluation of advocacy and policy change work. Prior to joining Wellspring in 2010, Jackie spent 10 years integrating evaluation and learning into the grant making work at The Edna McConnell Foundation and then at The Atlantic Philanthropies.
Kantahyanee Murray • Senior Research Associate, The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Dr. Kantahyanee Murray is a Senior Research Associate in Research, Evaluation and Data (RED) at The Annie E. Casey Foundation. She plans and commissions evaluations in areas such as youth and family well-being, community safety, and evidence-based practice. Kantahyanee is an evaluation manager on large-scale evaluation projects, and in this role collaboratively develops strategies that help stakeholders use data in ways that advance equity. For example, applying culturally responsive methods, engaging residents and other community stakeholders in participatory approaches, and making data more accessible to diverse audiences. She also manages a portfolio to build RED’s capacity to apply racial and ethnic equity and inclusion approaches in evaluation grantmaking, planning and execution. Kantahyanee led Expanding the Bench (ETB) at Casey for 4 years and facilitated ETB’s transition to a field-sustained initiative managed by Change Matrix.
Kelsey Simmons • Evaluation and Learning Officer, Ford Foundation
Kelsey Simmons serves as the Evaluation and Learning Officer at the Ford Foundation’s Office of Strategy and Learning. She works closely with program teams in creating monitoring and learning plans, designing external strategic evaluations, and embedding evidence-based learning throughout strategy creation and adaptation. Prior to her time at Ford, she worked at the International Rescue Committee as a Learning Advisor for the Violence Prevention and Response Unit where she supported 30 program teams working in humanitarian protection. Prior to her role at IRC, Kelsey worked as an Evaluation Specialist at EnCompass LLC, where she conducted evaluations for foundations, governments, multi-lateral institutions, and NGOs in social justice, gender, democracy and governance, and global health. Kelsey holds a Master’s in International Development Studies from George Washington University, and a Bachelor’s in International Affairs from the University of Georgia. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zambia from 2010-2012.
Martina Todaro • Research Associate, Research-Evaluation-Learning, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Martina joined the Research-Evaluation-Learning unit in October 2018. She works on a variety of projects supporting RWJF’s efforts to build bold and lasting change rooted in the best available evidence, analysis, and science, and increase equity, diversity and inclusion inside and outside the foundation. Martina holds a Master’s of Public Administration with a concentration in data analysis, and has worked in evaluation, both as an internal and external evaluator, prior to joining RWJF.
Meredith Blair Pearlman • Evaluation & Learning Director, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Meredith Blair Pearlman serves as the Director of Evaluation and Learning at The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The Packard Foundation supports efforts aimed at improving the lives of children, families and communities—and restoring and protecting our planet. Meredith partners with foundation staff, grantees, and external consultants to strengthen the Foundation’s monitoring, evaluation and learning capacity. Prior to joining the Foundation in December 2012, Meredith lead the evaluation and learning at Humanity United. Meredith brings experience implementing programs and developing internal and external reporting, monitoring, and evaluation processes to improve organizational learning. Meredith holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington’s Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs.
Subarna Mathes • Senior Strategy and Evaluation Officer, Ford Foundation
Subarna Mathes serves as a Senior Strategy and Evaluation Officer at the Ford Foundation’s Office of Strategy and Learning. She works closely with programs on strategy development and leads on the integration of evaluation and evaluative thinking into the foundation’s work. Prior to joining Ford, Subarna was a learning and impact program officer embedded within the Open Society Foundations’ Fiscal Governance Program. Before that, she had served as a consultant with Innovations for Scaling Impact (iScale), where she facilitated strategic planning and theory of change processes, and designed and conducted advocacy and network evaluations for a variety of nonprofit organizations and philanthropies. Subarna has an MPA in evaluation from the University of Washington, an MA in South Asian studies from the University of Michigan, and a BA in international affairs from the George Washington University.
Previous Workgroup Members
Gina Hijjawi, PhD
Senior Program Officer,
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Olivia Deich
Evaluation & Learning Officer,
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Theresa Chen
Sr. Director, Evaluation & Learning,
Skoll Foundation
- Provide ideas and suggestions to improve or enhance the online CREE curriculum
- Establish criteria for the selection of LEEAD Scholars, Mentors, and Practicum Sites
- Generate ideas for Practicum Sites (e.g., evaluation firms, foundations, think tanks, nonprofit agencies) and connect to the ETB Team when possible
- Provide input on potential professional development opportunities
- Provide input on methodology and useful and accessible products from special projects (e.g. Evolving Evaluation)
Arthur Hernandez • Professor, University of the Incarnate Word
Dr. Hernandez is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist and Counselor, a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychological Specialties and is a licensed Psychologist, and Licensed Specialist in School Psychology. He served as a member and Chair of the Texas Board of Examiners of Psychologists and as a member of the Texas Diabetes Council. He currently serves on the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. His work has contributed to psycho-educational and public health interventions and effectiveness focusing on the theory and practice of Culturally Responsive and Equitable Evaluation across a variety of settings. His research and scholarly contributions may be found in multiple venues covering topics ranging from teacher education to Type 2 Diabetes in children. Dr. Hernández has and continues to contribute to funded research, service and teaching projects as Principal Investigator, Co-Investigator, Evaluator or Consultant. In addition, he currently serves as Director of the Minority Serving Institutions Fellowship Program of the American Evaluation Association and on the Advisory Board for the Annie E. Casey Foundation – Change Matrix, Leaders in Equitable Evaluation and Diversity program of the Foundation’s Expanding the Bench initiative, which focuses on diversity, equity and inclusion in Evaluation.
Kate Szczerbacki JD, PhD • Director of Strategic Learning and Evaluation, The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
Kate Szczerbacki leads the learning and evaluation unit at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving – a community foundation serving 29 towns in North Central Connecticut. In this role, she oversees evaluation and applied research projects to help the Foundation, its partners, and the community learn about the effectiveness of its investments and the needs of the region. She also collaborates with the Foundation’s grantmaking teams to develop and monitor strategic investments and contributes to the health of the regional data and evaluation ecosystem (e.g. community/regional surveys and assessments, data sharing and integration, equitable data use). Before coming to the Foundation, she worked as a program evaluator mostly in K-12 and youth contexts with projects commissioned by state government, regional education foundations, early childhood centers, and public school districts.
Katrina L. Bledsoe, PhD • Senior Evaluation Consultant and Research Scientist, Education Development Center, Inc.
Katrina L. Bledsoe, PhD, is an evaluation, and organizational consultant and strategist with 25 years of experience at the local, state, and federal government levels, and with philanthropic organizations such as The Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Nellie Mae Education Fund. She is currently a senior evaluation specialist and research scientist at Boston-based Education Development Center (EDC), Her expertise is in organizational learning and evaluation, strategic planning, mixed methods, applied social psychology, and cultural contexts. Dr. Bledsoe has served as principal investigator, co-principal investigator, or project director, on a variety of projects and initiatives, and has received grants and contracts for programs in STEM education, mental health, economic development, school-based health, K-12 and higher education and international development.
Leah C. Neubauer • Assistant Professor, Northwestern University
Leah C. Neubauer, EdD, MA, is an Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. Her primary area of scholarship is curriculum development and training in the population health and health/evaluation-related professions. She received the 2020 Early Career Public Health Teaching Award from the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) for her accomplishments in teaching, research, educational leadership and mentorship. She leads collaborations with a variety of teaching and learning partners across the globe. She has served on the founding LEAAD advisory board and as a mentor in the LEAAD program. She came into higher education through pathway programming for first-generation, low-income (FGLI) college students. She is a proud alum of the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, RWJF New Connections Program and member of the Latina Researcher Network (LRN). She aims to bring person-centered, responsive, culturally-relevant, and practical insights to mentoring and coaching. She serves as co-facilitator of the American Evaluation Association (AEA) Local Affiliate Collaborative (LAC) and as an accreditation Site Visit Chair with the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).
Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, PhD, MPH, CHES • President and Founder, Amaka Consulting and Evaluation Services, LLC
Dr. Amutah-Onukagha has over 15 years of experience conducting health disparities work, with specialties in program development and evaluation, and mixed methods research. Her contributions have included projects focused on maternal mortality and morbidity, health equity, HIV/AIDS, adolescent health, and maternal and child health. Her skills and focus include needs assessment, survey development, interview administration, focus group facilitation, and program implementation and evaluation. Dr. Amutah-Onukagha is the President and Founder of Amaka Consulting and Evaluation Services, LLC (ACES), a minority and woman owned public health research and evaluation firm. Providing leadership for a team of 25, she provides strategic oversight and leadership for her team. In this capacity, ACES has had the pleasure of having a number of Federal, State, non-profit and local agencies as clients.
Rebekah Levin • Independent Evaluator
Rebekah Levin lives in the Chicago area and has worked as an evaluator for the past 40 years.
Tamarah Moss • Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, Bryn Mawr College
Tamarah Moss, PhD, MPH, MSW is an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, Bryn Mawr College. Time as a LEAAD Scholar (2019-2020), was invaluable to her professional development as an evaluator and evaluation educator. The experience to be paired with her LEEAD mentor Dr. Donna M. Mertens, her practicum site at IMPAQ International, and camaraderie of her fellow cohort members was exceptional. As a community-engaged scholar, she continues to be focused on community-centered research and teaching in the areas of trauma-informed culturally responsive evaluation, health and mental health service delivery for marginalized communities, community-college partnerships, and pedagogy. Tamarah believes in the power of collaboration and the opportunity to serve as a thought-partner with the Expanding the Bench TM (ETB) Advisory Team, especially related to supporting curriculum development and pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning, for future LEAAD scholars. She has served in leadership roles with the American Evaluation Association (AEA) and most recently with the Social Work Topic Interest Group. Dr. Moss is also alum of the AEA Minority Serving Institutions Fellowship program, under the direction and mentorship of Dr. Art Hernandez, during her time on faculty at Howard University School of Social Work.
Tanisha T. Woodson, PhD • Evaluation Project Director and Research Scientist, NPC Research
Dr. Tanisha Tate Woodson is a Principal Investigator and Evaluation Director at NPC Research in Portland, Oregon. Tanisha has more than 13 years of experience developing, implementing, and managing collaborative projects on a variety of social welfare research topics, including early childhood education, public health, housing, and community development. Over the course of her research career, she has used a variety of research methods and approaches and incorporated a community-based participatory research and equity evaluation lens for studying the most vulnerable populations. Tanisha currently serves as the Project Director for House Bill 2016 Oregon Department of Education African American/Black Student Success Plan. In this role she leads a collaborative evaluation process working closely with Oregon Development of Education and key stakeholders to prioritize evaluation questions, approach and interpretation of data to lift up strategies that are most beneficial for Black and African American students across the state. Tanisha has authored peer-reviewed articles, presented her research at national conferences, and taught college courses in research methods, program evaluation, and community-based research approaches. She holds a BS in Biology and MPH in Health Management and Policy from the University of Michigan, and her doctorate in Social Welfare from Case Western Reserve University. Tanisha is a current equity fellow in the Expanding the Bench (ETB) Leaders in Equitable Evaluation and Diversity (LEEAD) program where she further develops the technical expertise in facilitating culturally responsive and equitable evaluation projects.
Previous Workgroup Members
Noé Rubén Chávez, PhD
Assistant Professor,
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Tamara Bertrand Jones, PhD
Associate Professor,
Florida State University
Jasmine Haywood, PhD
Strategy Officer, Lumina Foundation
Conflict of Interest Policy
It is ETB policy and practice that no Advisory Team member is advantaged or given special consideration in competitive ETB processes.
