University of Pennsylvania

College of the Holy Cross

University of Arizona

Director at Equal Measure

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

At Equal Measure, I work on a variety of evaluation projects with both local and national philanthropic and nonprofit clients. My current portfolio of projects include: The Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions' Opportunity Youth Forum, The California Endowment's Sons & Brothers initiative, the Robin Hood Foundation's Mobility LABS, and JEVS Human Services. As a sociologist, I use a mixed methods approach to understand the structural and systemic barriers to social change.

Equal Measure

Director

I worked as a consultant on social policy research and evaluation projects, including a workforce development evaluation and a statewide health program.

Self-Employed

Consultant

As Vice President, I was responsible for the day-to-day operations of Branch Associates, a social policy research and evaluation firm, including: overseeing all projects, including contracts, budgets, and staffing; reviewing deliverables; managing staff and consultants; regularly reviewing financial reports and making recommendations for changes; staff hiring and performance reviews; maintaining company certifications; working closely with Controller on all operations issues, including invoicing, IT, and HR; and business development, including reviewing Requests for Proposals, developing and writing proposals, and researching and developing business opportunities and client relations.I also continued to work on program evaluations (design, data collection, analysis, reports) in the areas of workforce development, education, youth development, health, and nonprofit capacity.

Branch Associates, Inc.

Vice President

I designed, implemented, and managed program evaluations in a variety of social policy fields and settings and for a variety of clients (federal, state, and local government; foundations; nonprofits; research organizations) with the goal of improving programs for primarily low-income populations. I evaluated workforce development, youth development, education, and health programs using both quantitative and qualitative methods and analyses.

Senior Research Associate

I performed data quality control, analyzed data, and wrote reports for client (National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education), using the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88) and the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS:2002). Projects included analyzing the effects of high school labor market experience and athletic participation on education, work, and social outcomes; tracking high school dropouts; and a descriptive analysis of school library media centers.

Jennifer Thompson