Our Staff

Gertrude J. Spilka
President

A founding director of OMG, Gerri has over 25 years of experience advising the social sector on strategy, evaluation, organizational restructuring and development, and policy. She bring this deep experience combined with a background in urban planning, and organizational and system dynamics, to overseeing the growth and development of OMG and to all client work. The areas of her expertise include community development, civic engagement in the digital age, and effective philanthropic and nonprofit management. Much of her recent work has investigated effective scaling, and policy and systems change efforts across various fields.

Role and Work at OMG

As a philanthropic strategist, Gerri has directed several foundation-wide strategic plans, including that for the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and for The Philadelphia Foundation. Also, she has directed the strategy development of numerous grantmaking portfolios, such as the Digital Journalism Strategy for the William Penn Foundation and the Civic Design Portfolio for The Heinz Endowments. She recently completed research for a strategic business plan to create SNAAP, a national artist alumni data system that tracks the career path of alumni of arts intensive high schools and secondary education institutions. Also a highly experienced evaluator, Gerri is currently directing an evaluation of a national Arts Education Systems Building Initiative in 11 cities and completed an evaluation of a national Electronic Media Policy Portfolio, both for the Ford Foundation. She is also directing evaluation of university-led community-building initiatives for the James L. and John S. Knight Foundation in Akron, Ohio and Macon, Georgia. She also led an early phase of the evaluation of the W. K. Kellogg Foundation's new Rural Policy Rural People Initiative that aimed to build a rural policy infrastructure, and an evaluation of its earlier pilot, Networks for Rural Policy Development. Gerri has worked extensively on complex community revitalization projects, co-directing an evaluation of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Rebuilding Communities Initiative in six cities; the Comprehensive Community Revitalization Program in the South Bronx; and an evaluation of the Countryside Exchange Program, an international, sustainable rural and small town community development program for the Glynwood Center. Gerri also advises social sector organizations on a broad range of effectiveness and capacity-building issues. She currently directs capacity-building grantmaking program for The Pew Charitable Trusts; is the National Program Director for New Connections, a program to increase the diversity of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and co-directs the RWJF Evaluation Diversity Fellowship.

Past Experiences

Prior to her consulting work, Gerri was a family therapist and a group therapist at a therapeutic community for substance abuse, an architect, and an architectural archivist for the Robert LaRicolais archives at the University of Pennsylvania.

Education

Gerri holds a B.A. from Carnegie Mellon University, an M.A. in community psychology from Temple University, and a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Affiliations and Publications

Gerri is co-author, with Blaine Bonham and Darl Rastorfer of Old Cities/Green Cities: A Guide to Reclaiming Abandoned and Unmanaged Land (American Planning Association, 2002). She is also a co-author of Understanding How the Arts Contribute to Excellent Education, for the National Endowment for the Arts, which made an early contribution to the national dialogue on making the arts a fundamental part of excellent education. Design as a Catalyst for Learning, also for the NEA, continued that investigation by focusing on the use of design as a powerful teaching and learning strategy. This publication received the Outstanding Academic Book in 2000 Award from the Association of College and Research Libraries. Gerri has shared numerous lessons learned from evaluations in a great variety of documents. She is a member the American Evaluation Association, and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations.

E-mail

gerri [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Meg Long
Deputy Director

Meg Long has a background in nonprofit management and evaluation research. She has hands-on nonprofit management experience and a strong research background in a broad range of international and domestic issues including educational reform, health care provision, and nonprofit management and efficiency.

Role and Project Work at OMG

Meg directs OMG’s postsecondary success portfolio which currently includes the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Community Partnerships portfolio evaluation, the assessment of the Citi Post-Secondary Success Program (CPSP), and Skill Up Washington’s Skill Link Initiative. In tandem with DVP-Praxis LTD, Meg is providing real-time evaluation and strategy feedback to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Completion by Design management team, and co-leading the Benefits Access for College Completion Initiative evaluation, funded through the Lumina Foundation for Education. Meg also provides strategic and evaluation support to Ascend, a family economic security program housed within the Aspen Institute.

Past Experiences

Before joining OMG, Meg was the Coordinator for Volunteer Recruitment, Training and Marketing for Experience Corps Philadelphia - a national intergenerational tutoring program. In that role, she worked with 22 inner-city elementary schools and two after-school programs to address the literacy needs of children reading below grade level. She also worked with community members and stakeholders to improve educational services to children and their families in Philadelphia. Her experience at the United Nations, the World Bank Institute, and the International Longevity Center ranged from conducting analyses of poverty alleviation policy measures in Kenya to that of socio-economic indicators of older New Yorkers to impact service delivery in intergenerational programs in the United States.

Education

Meg holds a B.A. from Rutgers College and a Masters of Public Administration in public policy and nonprofit management from New York University.

Affiliations and Publications

American Evaluation Association member
Rutgers Alumni Association member
New York University Alumni Association member

"Using Data to Drive Change: A guide for college access and success stakeholders." 2009 (with V. Dougherty and S. Singer)

"Arts Education for All, Lessons Learned from the First Half of the Ford Foundation’s National Arts Education Initiative." 2009 (with G. Spilka)

“Willing to Listen – An Evaluation of the De-Mining Efforts in Kosovo.” Final Report Submitted to United Nations Mine Action Programme. New York: PRAXIS Group Inc., January 2002 (with D. Solomons).

“Fiscal Decentralization in Sub-Saharan Africa – An Overview.” Final report submitted to the World Bank Institute and the Municipal Development Program. May 2002 (with L. Tang, T. Mutsamoto, and J.Brinkler).

“Decentralization Worldwide.” Final report submitted to the United Nations Development Programme. August 2002.

“Old and Poor In New York City.” Issue Brief. New York: International Longevity Center, November 2002.

E-mail

meg [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Julie Tarr
Senior Project Director

Julie has a background in early education policy, and community revitalization efforts. She has over 20 years of experience in philanthropy, applied research and evaluation, and nonprofit management. Her work has mostly focused on urban poverty and strategies to improve the success of children and youth in under-served communities.

Role and Project Work at OMG

Julie manages OMG’s portfolio of evaluative work in early education, maternal and child health and community schools. Her most recent work includes technical assistance to Pennsylvania’s Maternal and Child Health Home Visiting initiative, an evaluation of the Hartford Community Schools initiative, and a statewide study of Pennsylvania’s Early Childhood Mental Health Consultancy project.

Past Experiences

Prior to joining OMG, Julie was a Program and Evaluation Director at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, where she managed an annual grant portfolio of $5.5 million and designed evaluation plans to measure the impact of community and national investments. She also worked at the Center for Early Education Research at Rutgers University as its Associate Director. In addition to her experience in education, she has worked in housing and community development in New York City and Chicago.

Education

Julie holds a B.A. in philosophy and a Masters in Urban Planning from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She received her doctorate in education from the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.

Affiliations and Publications

Tarr, J., Klein, L., Gomby, D., McGill, E. (June, 2007). Intentional Curricula and Effective Teaching Strategies for Preschoolers: How Administrators Are Doing It and What Policymakers Should Know To Support It. National Association for the Education of Young Children, Professional Development Institute, Pittsburgh, PA.

Tarr, J., Klein, L., Gomby, D. (October, 2006). Early Childhood Cluster Evaluation. Grantmakers for Children Youth and Families, Los Angeles, CA.

Kohler, J.K. & Tarr, J.E. (2004). "Early to Read: A Local Emergent Literacy Initiative." The Evaluation Exchange, Volume X, No. 2 Summer 2004, 29.

Tarr, J.E., Lamy, C.E., Barnett, W.S. (2001). "The Philadelphia 1000 Family Survey." Early To Rise: Improving the School Readiness of Philadelphia’s Young Children, 35-45.

Tarr, J.E. & W.S. Barnett (2001). "A Cost Analysis of Part-H Early Intervention Services in New Jersey." Journal of Early Intervention, 24, 45-54.

W. S. Barnett & J.E. Tarr (2000). "Policy and Practices to Ensure High-Quality Programs." New Jersey Association of School Administrators Perspective , XVI, 4, 18-22.

Tarr, J., Brand, L. and DiPaolo, M.J. (November, 2000). "Subsidizing Child Care: Choice, Access and Quality Issues for Low-Income Working Parents." Paper presented at the National Association for the Education of Young Children Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA.

E-mail

julie [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Jill Gurvey
Director of Research

Jill brings to OMG a broad range of public policy research experience and work in the social sciences. She has performed complex analyses of education performance indicators, and also has deep experience in public health policy with a particular focus on research examining indicators of poor health-care outcomes. She has extensive experience with quantitative data analysis and management. She has worked primarily in large research institutional settings and has also been an independent consultant.

Role and Project Work at OMG

As the Director of Research, Jill oversees the design and implementation of research and evaluation methodologies, as well as all quantitative data collection and analysis. In addition to managing the organization’s data systems, her work focuses primarily in two research areas: public health and postsecondary education. As part of OMG’s food systems portfolio work, she is currently the Project Director of a research study examining health outcomes and health-care costs of participants in MANNA – a local comprehensive food delivery and counseling services program. In the education arena, Jill recently completed a set of reports for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation detailing college enrollment, persistence, and graduation among high school graduates in Philadelphia and Miami, an effort done in close partnership with the school districts in those cities. She is a member of the CollegeReady Data Committee, a working group of the City of Philadelphia Mayor’s Council for College and Career Success, and produced an analysis of Philadelphia high school graduates who attended local and regional colleges. She presented this report early in 2012 to the Mayor’s convening of college presidents.

Past Experiences

Jill brings to OMG a broad range of public policy research experience. Before coming to OMG, Jill spent three years at Mathematica Policy Research (MPR) in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Princeton, N.J., where she was a systems analyst for their health group. At MPR she worked on federally funded projects that examined the cost-effectiveness of a variety of programs in Medicare and Medicaid, such as Medicaid Buy-In (MBI), as well as Medicaid-financed nursing home stays and home and community based care funded by the Assistant Secretary of Planning and Evaluation in the Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to her work at MPR, she spent five years at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, in the Research Programming Group. There she worked on a variety of projects in health, labor and population, and national security. She has served as a consultant with research teams at Johns Hopkins and Harvard universities, and was a long-time employee of the University of California at San Francisco in the Department of Pediatrics and the Center for Health and Community.

Education

Jill holds a B.A. in psychology from the University of Michigan and has a Master’s degree in public health in epidemiology and biostatistics from the University of California at Berkeley.

E-mail

jill [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Steven Schuler
Director of Information Technology

Steve has a background in computer network and telecommunications administration, training, repair, and installation. He also has over 15 years of experience in web development, along with extensive experience in survey development and data analysis.

Role and Project Work at OMG

Steve oversees all of OMG’s computer systems, and provides staff with training and support. He is also OMG’s webmaster, fielding web-based survey technology that he custom-programs for use in collecting data for a wide variety of OMG's projects. Steve also works closely with OMG’s analysts, facilitating the smooth interaction of data between statistical analysis software, databases, and spreadsheets. In addition, he develops tools to assist OMG with its organizational management, including a personnel time and financial reporting system that increases the power and efficiency of OMG's project accounting and forecasting.

Past Experiences

Prior to joining OMG in 2000, Steve worked as an independent IT consultant, acting as a systems engineer, computer technician, and webmaster, all for a wide range of clients from banks to small towns to nonprofits and schools, both public and private.

Education

Steve holds a B.A. in psychology and sociology from Susquehanna University and completed coursework toward a Ph.D. in applied social psychology. Steve holds technical certifications from Microsoft and Citrix, among others.

E-mail

steve [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Edith G. Arrington
Senior Project Manager

Edith is a licensed psychologist whose general research, consulting, and writing interests are in the areas of race, identity, and diversity; education; and personal and leadership development.

Role and Project Work at OMG

At OMG Edith is actively engaged in the Diversity Committee and also manages New Connections: Increasing Diversity of RWJF Programming which is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. New Connections aims to increase the diversity of perspectives informing RWJF programming by providing research funding and career development opportunities to researchers and evaluators from historically underrepresented groups.

Past Experiences

Prior to joining OMG, Edith was a research associate for New Connections when it was housed at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Before her work at RWJF, Edith worked with diverse students in public and independent schools, in the area of recruitment and retention of diverse faculty in independent schools, and as a postdoctoral research fellow, lecturer and freelance writer.

Education

Edith attended Duke University where she earned an A.B. in psychology and sociology. She received her M.A. in psychology from the University of Virginia, and her Ph.D. in school, community, and clinical child psychology from the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.

Affiliations

American Psychological Association: Division 45: Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues, Division 13: Society for Consulting Psychology (Diversity and Inclusion Committee)

Selected Publications

Slaughter-Defoe, D., Stevenson, H.C., Arrington, E.G., & Johnson, D. (2012). "Black Educational Choice: Assessing the Private and Public Alternatives to Traditional K–12 Public Schools." Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.Stevenson, H.C. & Arrington, E.G. (2009). "Racial/ethnic socialization mediates perceived racism and the racial identity of African American adolescents." Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 15(2), 125-136.

Arrington, E. G. & Stevenson, H. C. (2006). "Final Report for the Success of African American Students in Independent Schools Project." http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/23

Arrington, E. G. & Wilson, M. N. (2004). "Risk and resilience during the teenage years for diverse youth." In C. S. Clauss-Ehlers & M. D. Weist (Eds.), Community Planning to Foster Resilience in Children (pp. 113-125). NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

Arrington, E. G., Hall, D. M., & Stevenson, H. C. (2003). "The Success of African American Students in Independent Schools Project." Independent School Magazine, 62 (4), 11-21.

Arrington, E. G. & Wilson, M. N. (2000). "A re-examination of risk and resilience during adolescence: Incorporating culture and diversity." Journal of Child and Family Studies, 9 (2), 221-230.

E-mail

edith [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Vivian Figueredo
Senior Project Manager

Vivian has a background in nonprofit program development, implementation, and evaluation, as well as in fundraising, strategic planning, and capacity building. She has experience with a range of domestic and international issues, including community development and urban revitalization, workforce development, K-16 education, and adult education and training.

Role and Project Work at OMG

At OMG Vivian specializes in managing complex evaluations of national systems-change and partnership building initiatives. For the Citi Foundation, Vivian is currently managing a five-year summative and formative evaluation of a multi-city initiative: the Citi Postsecondary Success Program. For the Knight Foundation, Vivian is also managing two multi-year evaluations of university-led community revitalization efforts: the College Hill Alliance in Macon, Georgia and the University Park Alliance in Akron, Ohio. For the past four years, Vivian has been a lead trainer and coach in evaluation methods for the Robert Wood Johnson Evaluation Fellowship Program, a program co-led by the OMG Center and Duquesne University.

Past Experiences

Before joining OMG, Vivian was a program manager with St. Joseph's Carpenter Society, a community development corporation in Camden, New Jersey. In this position, she designed and implemented a new education program - Safe & Healthy Homes - to help low-income families improve their home environments. While at the Carpenter Society, Vivian also led the board & staff in drafting the organization's strategic plan. Prior to her work in Camden, Vivian spent three years at Cáritas del Perú, a large Peruvian nonprofit organization, where she led the organization's internal capacity building activities. At Cáritas, she also ran a workforce development program for low-literacy adults living in areas of extreme poverty.

Education

Vivian holds a Master's in public affairs from Princeton University and a B.A. in history from Tulane University.

Affiliations and Publications

American Evaluation Association

Figueredo, Vivian and Steve Anzalone. Alternative models for secondary education in developing countries: rationale and realities. USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC)/Development Experience System (DEXS), 2003.

E-mail

vivian [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Tania Tasse-Guillen
Senior Project Manager

Tania has a background in program evaluation research and has participated in evaluations of a wide range of programs including education, child welfare, youth development, and child nutrition programs. She has worked in various settings on quantitative and qualitative research design, data collection, and analysis.

Role and Project Work at OMG

Tania is currently managing several projects at OMG, ranging in focus from developing multi-sector community partnerships to improve community and student outcomes, to improving postsecondary outcomes among men of color, to nutrition assistance. She is co-managing OMG’s evaluation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Community Partnerships portfolio, a multi-year initiative to increase postsecondary completion rates in eight communities across the country. She is also managing an assessment of the Strive Partnership, a collective impact effort aimed at improving educational outcomes along the cradle to career continuum in the Greater Cincinnati Region, as well as an evaluation of the Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance’s (MANNA’s) comprehensive nutrition and meal delivery program for people at acute nutritional risk.

Past Experiences

Prior to joining OMG, Tania was a Senior Research Associate at Metis Associates, a New York-based research and consulting firm that provides evaluation and information technology services. During her time at Metis, Tania worked on an evaluation of New York City’s Learning to Work program, an in-depth job readiness and career exploration program designed by NYC’s Office of Multiple Pathways to assist struggling students progress toward a high school diploma. Tania was also involved in evaluating the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, a national initiative striving to improve outcomes for youth transitioning from foster care to independence, and providing self-evaluation training and support to the initiative’s grantees. Tania has also worked for Mathematica Policy Research in Princeton, New Jersey, where she participated in evaluations of child nutrition programs including the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, and Women Infants and Children (WIC).

Education

Tania holds an M.A. in public policy and a certificate in nonprofit studies from Johns Hopkins University, and a B.A. in communications/journalism from Antioch College.

Affiliations and Publications

“Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Audit of the Magnet and School Choice Program.” Final Report submitted by Metis Associates to Pittsburgh Public Schools, November 19, 2008 (with A. Simon, C. Aulicino, J. Alemany and M. Zlotnik). Available online at: http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/14311071716911330/lib/14311071716911330/MagnetA...

Handbook of Leadership Development Evaluation, Chapter 2: “Leading with Theory: Using a Theory of Change Approach for Leadership Development Evaluations” (with M. Gutierrez). Handbook published by John Wiley and Sons, 2007.

“Junior Achievement (JA) Academy Program.” Final Evaluation Report submitted to JA Worldwide, July 2005 (with M. Gutierrez). Available online: http://www.ja.org/files/afterschool/JA_Academy_ExecSummary.pdf http://www.ja.org/files/afterschool/JA_Academy_Full_Report.pdf

“The Eisenhower Fellowships.” Final Evaluation Report by the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning, January 2005 (with M. Gutierrez). Available online at: http://www.leadershiplearning.org/node/204

“Direct Certification in the National School Lunch Program—Impacts on Program Access and Integrity.” Final report submitted to the Economic Research Service. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., October 2003 (with P. Gleason, K. Jackson, and P. Nemeth). Available online at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/efan03009/efan03009.pdf

“Reaching More Hungry Children: The Seamless Summer Food Waiver.” Issue Brief: March 2003, No. 1. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Available at: http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/PDFs/seamlessisbr.pdf

“Is There an ‘Urban Revival’ and What Does it Mean for Baltimore?” Occasional Paper No. 24. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University, March 2000.

E-mail

tania [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Justin Piff
Project Manager

Justin has a background in program evaluation, quality improvement, and capacity building, with a focus on education and health and human service programs. He has worked with a broad range of evaluation, research, and quality improvement initiatives, and has experience with quantitative and qualitative research methods, as well as training and consultation.

Role and Project Work at OMG

Justin’s current work at OMG includes an evaluation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Community Partnerships Portfolio, which is designed to build cross-sector partnerships to increase college-going among low-income young adults. He is also managing an initiative funded by the William Penn Foundation to help local arts education organizations develop plans to scale their programs across the Philadelphia School District, and is working with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Human Capital Portfolio to refine its strategy and cross-cutting indicators for measuring the strategy’s success. Justin is also involved with OMG’s evaluation training and consultation projects, and manages the Pew Fund Capacity Building Program, which provides capacity-building funding to The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Health and Human Services grantees in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Justin also co-chairs the Diversity Committee at OMG and works towards building staff skill and organizational capacity around culturally responsive evaluation and a racially equitable approach to consulting.

Past Experiences

Before joining OMG, Justin was a quality management coordinator at Devereux, where he oversaw quality and performance improvement at two residential treatment centers for children and adolescents, as well as a therapeutic foster care program. Prior to Devereux, Justin worked as an evaluation manager with Cornell Companies. In that role, he consulted with treatment, education, behavioral health, and corrections programs around the U.S. to monitor and improve outcomes and program performance. During his graduate studies, Justin served as a research assistant at the Social Intervention Group at the Columbia University School of Social Work where he worked on two federally funded research projects investigating service utilization among vulnerable populations. Justin has also taught in the Social Work Department at Eastern University as an adjunct instructor.

Education

Justin holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Eastern University, and earned a master of science in social work from Columbia University.

Affiliations and Publications

American Evaluation Association
Eastern Evaluation Research Society

Yoon, K. & Piff, J. (Spring 2011). "Better Recess for a Better School Experience: West Philadelphia Recess Initiative." Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal, 6.

Long, M., Quast, S., & Piff, J. (Spring 2010). "Data as the critical driver of college access and success partnerships." Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal, 3.

Wu, E., El-Bassel, N., Gilbert, L., Piff, J., & Sanders, G. (2004). "Socio-demographic disparities in supplemental service utilization among male methadone patients." Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 26, 197-202.

E-mail

justin [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Wendy Sedlak
Project Manager

Wendy has a background in applied research and program evaluation using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, with a particular focus on social policy research and evaluation in the areas of social mobility, food systems/childhood obesity, housing, education, and disability. She is knowledgeable in the development and administration of survey instruments, qualitative field studies, and statistical analysis.

Role and Project Work

Wendy’s most recent work at OMG includes managing the evaluation of the Heinz Out of School Time Arts Program, which aims to provide prolonged arts experiences for children and youth in distressed communities. Wendy also manages the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Convening, a peer to peer learning network of Foundation grantees. In addition to managing project work, Wendy lends support conducting quantitative and qualitative analysis for a variety of OMG’s evaluations including the Citi Postsecondary Success Program, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Community Partnerships Portfolio, and the assessment of the Strive Partnership.

Past Experiences

Before joining OMG, Wendy worked for Temple University’s Institute on Disabilities where she worked on both qualitative and quantitative assessments. In particular, as part of an evaluation of a Parents As Leaders (PAL) initiative, Wendy helped to design, coordinate, and run focus groups regarding motivational factors for parents of children in typical childcare centers to participate in parent training opportunities. In addition, Wendy worked at the Wilder Research Center in St. Paul, MN where she conducted internal and external evaluations of programs. She was responsible for overseeing all medium to large-scale computer aided telephone interviewing projects including quality control, programming of survey instruments, monitoring project costs, and writing of research reports.

Education

Wendy holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in sociology from Temple University and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Affiliations and Publications

American Sociological Association (ASA)
Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM)
Urban Affairs Association (UAA)

Sedlak, Wendy and Spilka, Gerri 2010. “New Connections and a Networked Approach.” OMG Center for Collaborative Learning: November 2010.

Feinstein, Celia, Robin Levine, James Lemanowicz, Wendy Sedlak, Jay Klein, and David Hagner. 2006. “Homeownership Initiatives and Outcomes for People with Disabilities.” Community Development: Journal of the Community Development Society: Volume 37, No. 3, Autumn.

E-mail

wendy [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Sarah Singer Quast
Project Manager

Sarah has a background in both qualitative and quantitative research methods, particularly in the areas of housing, education, and workforce development. She has experience in ethnographic fieldwork, statistical analysis, and training development and delivery.

Role and Project Work at OMG

Sarah’s portfolio includes a variety of education projects, including two postsecondary access and success learning evaluations of the Citi Foundation’s Postsecondary Success Program (CPSP) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Community Partnerships portfolio. Both are multi-site efforts designed to build city-level partnerships and systems that will strengthen local college-going and completion. Sarah is also working on an evaluation of Hartford Community Schools in Connecticut. In addition, Sarah is managing two projects that OMG is conducting in partnership with DVP-Praxis, the Benefits Access for College Completion Initiative evaluation, funded through the Lumina Foundation, and a formative evaluation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Completion by Design management team.

Past Experiences

Prior to joining OMG, Sarah worked at New Visions for Public Schools in New York City as a program officer where she focused on documenting and evaluating internal programs. Sarah’s experience also includes her work at New Destiny Housing Corporation, where she served as the director of a program that supports the transition of domestic violence survivors to permanent housing. During her graduate studies, she served a research assistant at the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development.

Education

Sarah holds a Master of Public Policy from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Policy at Rutgers University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Rutgers. Sarah also participated in post-baccalaureate studies at the University of Oslo.

Affiliations and Publications

Postsecondary Readiness Strategies Work Group Member, Mayor’s Council for College and Career Success

Advisory Board Member, Philadelphia College Prep Roundtable

Volunteer, Philadelphia Social Innovations JournalLu, Linshuang, Christina Miller, and Sarah Singer Quast, PolicyMap: An Innovative Data Collection and Analysis Tool for all Sectors, Winter 2012, Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal (forthcoming)

National Planning Committee Member, 2011 Conference, National Partnership for Educational Access (NPEA)

Long, Meg, Sarah Singer Quast, and Justin Piff "Data as the Critical Driver of College Access and Success Partnerships" May 2010, Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal, http://www.philasocialinnovations.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&...

Dougherty, Victoria, Meg Long, and Sarah Singer, "Using Data to Drive Change: A Guide for College Access and Success Stakeholders" July 2009, http://www.omgcenter.org/PDF/OMG_data_final.pdf

E-mail

sarah [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Howard M. Walters
Project Manager

Howard has a background in database design and development, program evaluation, and mixed-method and policy analysis. At OMG, Howard works in the areas of educational achievement of minority students, housing, and community development. He has also focused on building client data collection and use capacity through database design and training.

Role and Project Work at OMG

Howard is currently managing the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Increasing Diversity in the Evaluation Field project, designed to deepen the evaluation profession’s capacity to work in racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse settings. He is also leading the Pennsylvania Home Visiting technical assistance project, an effort to support the expansion of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.

Howard recently completed a three-year evaluation of the Student African American Brotherhood’s collegiate chapter program’s impact on college access and success which included the building of a data collection system, and an assessment of the POSSE Foundation’s capacity to recruit more college partners, maintain program quality, and provide an effective and efficient organizational infrastructure in an expanded model.

Past Experiences

Prior to joining OMG, Howard was a Research Analyst with the People’s Emergency Center (PEC) where he managed the agency’s SQL server-based databases used for case management and program referral services, and he conducted data analysis to identify client needs for program improvement and funder reporting purposes. He also worked with PEC’s policy staff to design and implement a city-wide survey of transitional housing agencies in Philadelphia, which influenced the City of Philadelphia’s Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness Housing Workgroup.

Education

Howard holds Masters degrees in Social Service and Law and Social Policy, both from Bryn Mawr College, and an undergraduate degree in Sociology from Millikin University.

Affiliations and Publications

Member, American Evaluation Association 2008 – Present Advisory Board Member, Society for Social Work Research, LIFT-Philadelphia

E-mail

howard [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Lana Corrales
Project Analyst

Lana comes to OMG with extensive experience in project management, evaluation, and research, both global and domestic. Areas of focus include integrating evaluation into programmatic work, developing interagency and multidisciplinary partnerships, assessing program sustainability, and using participatory methods for capacity-building.

Role and Project Work at OMG

As a project analyst, Lana provides quantitative and qualitative analysis for projects that include a university-community revitalization initiative of the Knight Foundation in Macon Georgia; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Partnerships in Postsecondary Success (PPS) portfolio, a multi-year initiative to increase postsecondary completion rates; and an initiative of the Lumina Foundation that aims to improve college retention and completion through increasing access to public benefits. Other OMG work has included an evaluation of college preparedness and retention strategies for the City of Philadelphia’s Council on College and Career Success and a Kresge Foundation-sponsored initiative to build fundraising capacity and foster a national environment of philanthropy in Mexico.

Past Experiences

Prior to joining OMG, Lana served as an epidemiologist and technical advisor to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Environmental Health (CDC/NCEH) where she developed evaluation methodologies for environmental health initiatives. She managed a large study in Latin America that provided a basis for reforming UNICEF’s rural sanitation strategies and national policies throughout Latin America, and a study of infant nutrition and HIV in Tanzania through the Harvard School of Public Health’s Nutrition department. Lana has also provided needs assessment, evaluation, and training as a consultant to organizations that include the World Health Organization, CARE International, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and international nonprofits.

Education

Lana holds a Master’s of public health degree in global health from Emory University and a B.S. in anthropology and health sciences from the University of Massachusetts.

E-mail

lana [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Monica Getahun
Project Coordinator

Monica Getahun is a former Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Evaluation Fellow and a current project coordinator. Monica has experience in health and human services program planning, HIV/AIDS research, community planning, needs assessment and community engagement. Monica’s interests are in the areas of Culturally Responsive Evaluation (CRE), international and cross-cultural evaluation, as well as health evaluation.

Role and Project Work at OMG

At OMG, Monica is supporting an evaluation of the Hartford Community Schools Initiative, which partners with middle schools and nonprofit providers to promote healthy outcomes among children and families; an evaluation of Manna's meal delivery program for chronically ill patients; strategy work for the Aspen Institute’s Ascend economic security program; and the William Penn Foundation’s Arts Education Scaling effort. Finally, Monica is on the design and implementation team for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Healthy Teen Relationships Forum as well as the Healthy Policy Convening.

Monica also co-chairs the Diversity Committee at OMG and works towards building staff skill and organizational capacity around culturally responsive evaluation and a racially equitable approach to consulting.

Past Experiences

Before coming to OMG, Monica worked as a health planner of HIV/AIDS care and prevention services as a part of the federal government's efforts to provide services to those under or uninsured and living with HIV. Prior to this, she worked at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Clinical Biostatistics and Epidemiology and the School of Medicine as coordinator/manager on several research projects.

Education

Monica has a Masters of public health from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and a Bachelor of Science in biology from Philadelphia University. Also, she has taken courses in nonprofit management at the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.

E-mail

monica [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Mohamed F. Jalloh
Project Coordinator

Mohamed has a background in health promotion program planning, implementation, and evaluation, community-based participatory research (CBPR), health communication, cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention research, social media strategy, web/graphic design, and computer science.

Role and Project Work at OMG

At OMG, Mohamed works as a project coordinator on New Connections: Increasing Diversity of RWJF Programming. His major responsibilities include working with the deputy director on management and administration of this Robert Wood Johnson Foundation national program. Along with other program staff, Mohamed develops communication strategies aimed at engaging the program’s alumni and grantees. Building on his experience in Web design and electronic media communications, he uses social media and other Web 2.0 tools in promoting New Connections to various target audiences. Mohamed has been leading the development and customization of an integrated database CRM platform used for the program’s tracking/monitoring, communication, and events management.

Past Experiences

Prior to joining OMG, he worked at the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention as a research assistant on an NIH R01 project entitled “Navigating Men’s Health: Are We Our Brother’s Keeper?” In this capacity, he worked with a consortium of stakeholders in developing a training curriculum for lay health advisers in the area of cardiovascular disease management among African American men. He led the evaluation of the lay health training of the Brothers Keeper project, triangulating qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Prior to his graduate work at UNC-Chapel Hill, Mohamed planned and implemented substance abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention programs at Rutgers Health Services. In addition, he led the revision of "RU Up in Smoke," an evidence-based smoking cessation guide informed by the trans-theoretical model (TTM).

Education

Mohamed graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science in public health, and received his master’s in public health from the Health Behavior and Health Education Department at UNC Gillings School of Global Public. He holds a certificate in interdisciplinary health communication from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Presentations (selected)

Mohamed Jalloh, MPH (2011, October). An integrated database system: New Connections CRM case study. Poster presentation at the 2011 HighEdWeb Conference, Austin, TX.

Mohamed Jalloh, MPH, Eddie Eubanks, BS, Kevin Wu, MPH, Amma Agyemang, MPH, Sarah Lieff, MPH Candidate, Erin Shigekawa, BSPH, Alison Mendoza, MPH, Shola Dada, Eugenia Eng, MPH, DrPH, Daniel L. Howard, PhD and Paul Godley, MD, PhD, MPP (2010, November). Process evaluation of a church-based lay health advisor training on cardiovascular disease. Oral presentation at 138th American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.

E-mail

mohamed [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Stephanie Lerner
Project Coordinator

Stephanie is a project coordinator with a background in data analysis, program/project evaluation and policy analysis. Her research and evaluation work has focused primarily on community partnerships, civic engagement, community schools, and service-learning in higher education.

Role and Project Work at OMG

Stephanie is currently working on several evaluation projects related to community partnerships and postsecondary access and success, including the evaluation of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Partnerships in Postsecondary Success (PPS) portfolio, a national, multi-year initiative to increase postsecondary completion rates in eight communities across the country. She is also involved with the Pew Fund Capacity Building Program, which provides capacity-building funding to The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Health and Human Services grantees in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Past Experiences

Prior to joining OMG, Stephanie worked as an Evaluation Research Coordinator at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania, where she supported their internal program evaluation efforts, particularly for their University-Assisted Community Schools model, the Urban Nutrition Initiative, and Academically-Based Community Service (service-learning) courses. She also contributed to their strategic planning and development of evaluation frameworks and protocols. Prior to that, she worked at Bryn Mawr College in their Civic Engagement Office and Nonprofit Executive Leadership Institute (NELI), assisting with program coordination, field placements for service-learning courses, conducting reflection sessions and workshops for students, and coordinating the NELI Certificate for Executive Leaders.

Education

Stephanie has a B.A. in History and Political Science from SUNY Fredonia. She also has an M.P.A. in Public Administration from the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.

E-mail

stephanie [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Adina Wright
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Evaluation Fellow

Adina has a background in educational research and research projects assessing factors related to the educational advancement of underserved populations. In academic and nonprofit settings, she has worked with a variety of quantitative and qualitative data methods.

Role and Project Work at OMG

As the RWJF Evaluation Fellow, Adina is participating in a variety of projects. In this role, she conducts data collection and analysis and provides interpretation support. She also writes and produces research and evaluation reports and other documents. Currently, she is on the research and planning team for the Universal Community Homes Promise Neighborhood Initiative; the evaluation team of Community Design Collaborative’s Infill Philadelphia initiative; and the evaluation of Citi Foundation’s Postsecondary Success Program (CPSP). Additionally, Adina is lending support to the US Empowered strategic scaling project as well as OMG’s Pew Capacity Building Program.

Past Experience

Prior to joining OMG, Adina was graduate research assistant for Project GRAD Atlanta’s Director of Evaluation and Strategic Partnerships. In this capacity, she assisted with the data management, collection, and analysis of Project GRAD. Adina has also worked with a variety academic enrichment programs focused on providing career development and postsecondary education information to at-risk secondary students and first generation postsecondary students. Her experience has included serving as a scholarship coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club of Atlanta; a counselor for the Teacher Education and Compensation Helps (T.E.A.C.H); and an early college awareness advisor for the Gaining Early Awareness & Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR-UP).

Education

Adina holds an M.S. in educational psychology from Georgia State University, and B.S. in biology from Spelman College.

E-mail

adina [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Anna Jungclaus
Controller

Anna has a background as a CPA in both the for profit and nonprofit worlds. She has 25 years of experience in audit, finance, and treasury departments. Her most recent work has been with nonprofits in the Philadelphia and Washington D.C. areas.

Role and Project Work at OMG

Anna manages the financial and human resource systems for OMG. She is responsible for the financial workings of the organization-communicating monthly financial results along with managing the annual audit and communicating these results to the board. She also directs the client financial reporting. In the human resource area she manages all payroll and benefit issues that arise within our growing organization.

Past Experiences

Prior to joining OMG in 2011, Anna worked most recently as a consultant with OMG through Your Part Time Controller, LLC specializing in financial services for nonprofit organizations. As a YPTC manager, Anna had clients in the Philadelphia and Washington D.C. areas, and helped to manage and grow the office in Washington D.C. Prior to this, while working at Price Waterhouse as an auditor for several years, she passed the CPA exam and took on financial management positions in coal, oil, and gas; chemical manufacturing; and airline industries over the years.

Education

Anna holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in business/foreign language with a concentration in accounting from St. Francis University, Loretto, PA and is a Certified Public Accountant. She currently is a member of the AICPA and PICPA. While in Washington, D.C., she sat on the Nonprofit Task Force Committee for the Greater Washington Society for CPA’s.

E-mail

anna [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Lisa DaSilva
Executive Assistant

Lisa has over 26 years of experience as an executive assistant, primarily in the pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, she has experience in public relations and budget management.

Role and Project Work at OMG

Lisa is the primary liaison of the President with internal and external contacts. She also provides administrative management of sensitive and confidential issues, reviews and summarizes miscellaneous reports and documents, and works closely with the President to schedule and organize board meetings.

Past Experiences

Prior to joining OMG Center for Collaborative Learning, Lisa was an Administrative Coordinator and Public Relations Associate at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals in Wilmington, DE, for over 20 years. At the company, she held various positions, including marketing team administrative support for the SEROQUEL franchise, public affairs, global marketing, and drug regulatory affairs.

Education

Lisa holds a B.S. in business management from Wilmington University, graduating Summa Cum Laude.

E-mail

lisa [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Tracey Sterling
Administrative Coordinator

Tracey's background is in business administration and elementary education. Her combined work experience includes 20 years of employment development with company departments such as human resources, major claims, education, emergency healthcare, and investigative administration.

Role and Project Work at OMG

Tracey is responsible for the overall management of the OMG’s office, which includes organizing office operations and procedures, space and hospitality. She manages staff travel logistics, HR administration, and orders and maintains supplies and office equipment. Tracey’s role also includes rendering administrative support to staff on special projects as assigned, including correspondences and acting as liaison with other agencies, organizations and groups.

Past Experiences

Prior to joining OMG, Tracey worked in the business and administrative sector of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. As an Administrative Assistant, Tracey supported the Director of Emergency Medicine with the operation and daily functions of the department. Tracey managed a pediatric abuse case database. She detailed and maintained correspondence with relevant City departments.

Education

Tracey earned a B.B.A. degree from Temple University as she majored in general and strategic management.

E-mail

tracey [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Elaine F. Cassidy
Associate Project Director

Elaine is an associate project director at OMG with expertise in evaluation that utilizes mixed methods and multi-systemic perspectives, incorporating community engagement and participatory research.

Past Experiences

Before joining OMG in November 2008, Elaine was a program officer in research and evaluation at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, where she oversaw research and evaluation activities for the Foundation’s Addiction Prevention and Treatment and Vulnerable Populations portfolios. In this role, she worked on grantmaking related to violence prevention, youth development, school-based interventions, and addiction. She also designed and tracked performance indicators to track portfolio progress. Previously, Elaine held research, administrative, and teaching positions at the University of Pennsylvania. She worked in the Philadelphia public schools, managing a within-school, anti-aggression program for adolescents in an urban remedial disciplinary system, and in the Trenton public schools conducting a research study of obesity and psychosocial health among elementary and middle school students. Elaine is a trained mental health clinician, who has provided therapeutic care to children and families in school, outpatient, and acute partial hospitalization settings.

Education

Elaine holds a B.A. in psychology and liberal studies from the University of Notre Dame, an M.S.Ed. in psychological services from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in school, community and child-clinical psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. She has held post-doctoral positions at the Center for Health, Achievement, Neighborhood, Growth and Ethnic Studies (CHANGES) at the University of Pennsylvania and at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in research and evaluation.

E-mail

elaine [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Tony M. Hall
Associate Project Director

Tony has worked as a management consultant and technical assistance provider in the field of community and economic development for nearly 20 years. During that time, he has worked with a diverse set of clients and partners including national and local foundations, intermediary organizations, and community-based organizations.

Role and Project Work at OMG

Tony is currently helping to build evaluation and data capacity of the Student and African American Brotherhood (SAAB), an organization dedicated to increasing the success of African-American and Latino college students. Other projects with OMG have included an evaluation of the Hartford Community Schools initiative, evaluating grantmaking approaches for NeighborWorks America, and supporting an evaluation of the Posse Foundation’s capacity for expansion.

Past Experiences

Prior to his involvement with OMG, Tony worked as an independent consultant in community and economic development. In this capacity, a key focus area of his work has included supporting data and large scale evaluation efforts with technology solutions that address strategic and organizational problems in the nonprofit and public sectors. Tony moved into the field of community and economic development after 15 years in the private sector as a software developer and designer.

Education

Tony earned his B.A. in math/computer science from Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s of Public and Private Management (M.P.P.M.) from Yale University School of Management.

E-mail

tony [at] omgcenter [dot] org

Derek Price
Associate Project Director

Derek is a national leader in strategic thinking for institutional transformation and systems change. He has considerable experience in the use of data-driven strategies to improve student success in college, and provides strategic planning, program review and evaluation, and workshop facilitation for action-oriented organizations. Derek has a strong policy, research, and evaluation background and works on a broad range of policy and practice issues around postsecondary education and workforce development, especially the role of community and technical colleges.

Role and Project Work

As a strategic partner with OMG, Derek, principal owner of DVP-PRAXIS LTD, brings considerable depth to OMG in postsecondary success and workforce system development. Derek and Meg Long recently completed a documentarian evaluation of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Developmental Education Initiative. Derek is currently working with Brandon Roberts & Associates on the evaluation of Shifting Gears, a multi-state, multi-year Joyce Foundation initiative to strengthen postsecondary and skills development systems in six Midwest states so that more low-skilled workers gain the education, skills and credentials needed to advance in the labor market. Derek is also working with the Lumina Foundation for Education’s Tuning USA project, an initiative working with college faculty to develop discipline-specific learning outcomes at the degree-level. Derek is also the lead evaluator for Kingsborough Community College’s FIPSE project, the Community College Jigsaw, aimed at helping partner institutions develop plans for institutional changes in policy and practice to improve student outcomes.

Past Experiences

Before starting DVP-PRAXIS, Derek was the director of higher education research at Lumina Foundation for Education. In that role, he helped launch the Foundation’s premier national initiative, Achieving the Dream, which focused on data-driven decision-making at community colleges as a way to improve student outcomes, especially for low-income, first-generation, and students of color. Derek has also been a college professor where he experienced first-hand the challenges for faculty when teaching under-prepared students.

Education

Derek holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from American University, a Masters in Russian and Eastern European Studies from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and a Bachelor’s in Comparative Area Studies from Duke University.

Publications (selected)

Educating Adult Workers: The Shifting Gears Approach to Systems Change. 2009. (with B. Roberts)

Promise Lost: College Qualified Students Who Do Not Enroll in College. 2008. (The Institute for Higher Education Policy, with R. Hahn)

Federal Access Polices and Higher Education for Working Adults. 2008. (Center for American Progress, with A. Bell)

Borrowing Inequality: Race, Class and Student Loans. 2004. (Lynne Rienner Publishers)