My Story

Most recently, I built out and led the research and evaluation practice at OneTable, a national nonprofit focused on community engagement around the Shabbat dinner table for folks in their 20s and 30s. What started as a field manager role quickly evolved into something bigger—because I kept asking questions about what was working and why, and then building the systems to find out.

As Senior Director of Impact and Learning at OneTable, I designed and led  five major mixed-methods research projects, including a 2,800-person impact study that shaped organizational strategy. I secured a $500,000 three-year grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation by developing an evaluation framework rigorous enough to meet their standards. I worked closely with program, development, and leadership teams translating research findings into actionable decisions.

Before OneTable, I worked in youth development and higher education—at Genesys Works and re:work training, supporting alumni as they navigated early career challenges, and at Earlham College, recruiting students and thinking about what makes educational experiences transformative. Those years taught me that the best programs are built on understanding who you're serving and what they need, not what you assume they need.

That’s what drew me to evaluation work - figuring out how to bring rigor and clarity to the critical work that nonprofits do daily. Not in a way that turns programs into sterile experiments, but in a way that helps good organizations become  great ones.

So I learned to design surveys that capture meaningful insights. I taught myself advanced Salesforce so I could build data systems that worked for real teams, not just on paper. I dove into digital analytics platforms to understand user behavior at scale. And I got really good at taking complex findings and turning them into stories that made sense to funders, board members, and program staff.

And the work was never just about the data. It was about the moment when a program director's eyes light up because suddenly they understand exactly why their pilot succeeded (or failed! And we talked through how to pivot to a new angle.) Or when a development team member walks into a pitch meeting with confidence because they have a compelling impact story to tell. Or when a c-suite leader can answer the board's tough questions with "here's what we know."

That's what I'm after: making evaluation feel less like homework and more like a superpower.

Now I'm bringing that experience to other nonprofits as an independent consultant. I work with organizations that are ready to invest in understanding their impact—whether that means designing their first formal evaluation, building data systems, or creating the kind of compelling impact stories that make funders say yes.

When I'm not nerding out over data, you can find me baking challah with my 16-month-old son, devouring a new book, or plotting my next Chicagoland adventure. I believe in bringing this same curiosity to the work of understanding how programs create change.

If you're looking for someone who understands both the strategic and operational sides of nonprofit work—and who can translate that into research that drives decisions—let's talk.

My Approach

I believe:

• Data should drive decisions, not gather dust in reports

• Evaluation is a tool for improvement, not just compliance

• The best research happens in partnership with the people closest to the work

• Small and mid-size nonprofits deserve the same rigorous evaluation as large institutions

• Storytelling with data is as important as the analysis itself

When we work together:

• We'll start with your questions, not mine

• I'll design research that fits your capacity and budget

• You'll get insights you can use, not academic jargon

• We'll build systems that outlast our engagement

• I'll train your team so evaluation becomes second nature