KAVA - Key Persons
Adela grew up on the bayou in New Iberia, Louisiana. She received her BA in Global Studies and French from UNC Chapel Hill in 2017. After living out west for a few years, she returned to Louisiana to pursue her Master of Public Health in Nutrition at Tulane School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine, graduating in 2023. During her time at Tulane, she was a research assistant for a community based participatory research project with a local non-profit organization, as well as a violence prevention research study. Adela works at PRG as a Junior Research Analyst on various projects. In her free time, Adela loves all outdoor activities, from kayaking on the bayou to getting her hands dirty on a vegetable farm. She also loves to speak in French with anyone that she can (she is from south Louisiana after all!) and dancing to all music.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Analyst
- Lead Research Analyst
A native of South Louisiana, Alethia joined the PRG team in the New Orleans office in 2012. During her time as a social work graduate student at Louisiana State University (2012), she cultivated her interest in evaluation as a means of creating better social policies for disadvantaged populations. Alethia is currently the Senior Research Analyst of the Juvenile Justice-Involved Youth Innovation and Impact Network (JJIIN), funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Population Affairs through the TPP Innovation and Impact Networks grant. JJIIN is a multi-state network project involving the implementation and evaluation of 7 new trauma-informed teen pregnancy prevention interventions designed for juvenile justice-involved youth. Prior to leading the JJIIN project, Alethia worked on the evaluations of several behavioral interventions targeting youth, including three randomized-controlled trials that were testing the effectiveness of teen pregnancy prevention programs in various settings across the country. When she's not squinting at her computer, Alethia spends her time running after her wonderful son and daughter, cooking Cajun cuisine, and enjoying lazy afternoons under the shade of an oak tree.
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant
- Junior Research Analyst
Alexis joined PRG as an intern in 2018 and began working as a Research Assistant in 2019 after graduating from Tulane University. Alexis earned her B.A. in Economics from Tulane and soon developed a keen interest in an economic application with social policy. This interest was heightened through volunteer work and community involvement. She is currently continuing her work at PRG as a Junior Research Analyst, managing the day-to-day operations of various research projects, including projects funded by the Office of Adolescent Health and the Department of Education. In her off time, Alexis enjoys going to festivals, perusing art museums, and long walks on the neutral ground of St. Charles.
Born and raised in Massachusetts, Ashley came to New Orleans to get her bachelor's from Tulane University. She graduated with a degree in Economics and International Development, a Spanish minor, and a strong desire to stay in the city. While in school, she interned with Eden House and the New Orleans Department of Commerce and worked on various socioeconomic research projects. This included a report on how U.S. school systems responded to COVID 19 and a study on gender and racial discrimination in mental health care access. Her interest in these projects led her to PRG. Outside of PRG, Ashley enjoys weekend camping trips, live music, bird photography, and teaching her cat Remington new tricks.
Ayla Oden joined PRG in 2023 after receiving her PhD in Media and Public Affairs from the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University. There, she published work on political communication in the journals Public Opinion Quarterly, Social Media & Society, the International Journal of Communication, among others. Her work at PRG focuses on research and evaluation for projects related to behavioral health. She loves to travel and has so far visited over 30 countries across six continents. Back in Baton Rouge, she enjoys reading thrillers late at night, walking by the lakes with her dog Pawter, and obsessively checking Google Flights.
Job Titles:
- Research Analyst
- Junior Research Analyst
Caroline is a proud native of south Louisiana. She received her BA in International Studies and Political Science from Louisiana State University in 2012 and her MPH from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans School of Public Health in 2019. Her interests in various social issues and policies, coupled with her interest in program evaluation, led her to PRG, where she has worked since 2019. At PRG, Caroline has worked on a variety of projects related to substance use, community development, labor and workforce development, housing, public health, and environmental issues. She also serves as a member of PRG's Project Development team. When not at her desk, she enjoys traveling and lounging near bodies of water (pools, lakes, rivers, oceans, what have you), preferably with a book in hand.
Job Titles:
- Production Manager
- Research Analyst
Carolyn received her BA in Spanish and teaching certificates in K-12 Spanish and English for non-native speakers from the University of Iowa in 2012 and her MSc in disaster resilience leadership from Tulane University School of Social Work in 2017. She currently manages a federally funded RCT of a high school mentoring program and the evaluation of a large-scale teen pregnancy prevention program implementation grant. Her experience at PRG also includes working in partnership with a New Orleans-based substance use treatment center to evaluate programs in offender re-entry, HIV prevention, and opioid overdose treatment. She has extensive experience managing project and partner relationships, developing data collection materials and protocols, building partner capacity for evaluation, managing in-person and virtual data collection and monitoring, and preparing reports. Outside of the office, you can find her at City Park with her pup, throwing herself into a DIY project, or tending to her aspirational jungle of houseplants.
Catie never anticipated developing roots in the South, but a military move to Mississippi with her significant other led her to the Gulf Coast from 2011 to 2014 where she acquired a love for alligator sausage and swamp rats. Catie worked with PRG during this period as a Research Analyst. In mid-2014, Catie moved to Seattle and worked first as a Program Manager and then as the Associate Director for Health Alliance International's primary health care implementation and research projects in Mozambique. Catie couldn't stay away from PRG and came back as a Lead Research Analyst in January 2017. She now works as a Senior Research Analyst overseeing study design, data analysis, and reporting for PRG's public health evaluations and research, working under the Lead Senior Research Analyst. Catie has a BA in International Affairs from the George Washington University and an MPH and PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Washington. When not at her computer, you will find Catie outside with her two kiddos, dog, and husband. She loves anything that takes place under blue skies, notably biking, camping, skiing, and yoga.
Chelsea is a Mississippi native and received her BS in Entertainment Industry Management from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2012. Immediately after graduation, Chelsea managed the box office at the Saenger Theater in Hattiesburg, MS for two years before opting for a change of scenery and moving to the New Orleans area. After several years of affirmative action compliance consulting and even an apprenticeship at a local vegetable farm, Chelsea can fully express her love of organizing and supporting in her role as the Administrative Assistant. When she is not at the office, Chelsea can be found hand embroidering, listening to music and podcasts, and growing whatever tasty vegetable is in season.
Job Titles:
- Research Analyst
- Junior Research Analyst
Chelsea grew up in the Phoenix area and received her BA in Economics from the University of Arizona in 2014. She moved to Seattle in 2016 to pursue a Master of Public Administration from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington. At PRG, Chelsea is on the data management team and uses STATA to manage quantitative data across various PRG projects. Chelsea has a pet cat and enjoys exploring Seattle.
Originally trained in economics, Cong found her passion for policy research during her graduate study at the University of San Francisco (USF), where she learned how policies can be harnessed to empower vulnerable populations to break from cycles of poverty. After obtaining her MA from USF (2012), Cong decided to pursue her PhD in the discipline of political science with the focus on public policy and quantitative methods. Cong became a policy researcher at the University of Houston after getting her PhD there in 2018, employing mixed methods to address pressing economic and social issues and support policy decision-making at the local level. Cong joined PRG in July 2020. As a Lead Research Analyst at PRG, Cong conducts scientific research and evaluation for several workforce-focused projects funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and works across several other PRG projects to study public health and education programs/interventions using randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental design methods. Besides her high enthusiasm for data analysis, Cong enjoys cooking, hiking, and reading design and fashion blogs.
Elyse moved to New Orleans in 2013 to study food systems and community health at Tulane University. Over the next two years, she worked on food access advocacy, nutrition research, and violence prevention research, earning her MPH in 2015. At PRG, Elyse specializes in qualitative research and editing. She also oversees the evaluation of an afterschool mentoring program in Baton Rouge and a randomized controlled trial to study the impacts of an innovative online program for parenting teens. Outside of PRG, Elyse is into gardening, cooking, and exploring Louisiana with her pup Shakey.
Before moving to New Orleans, Emily lived and worked in South Africa for many years, completing her PhD in cultural anthropology in 2020. Her research explored the political, economic, and social relationships between so called urban margins and centers. This work encompassed a wide range of topics including the informal food industry, water access and climate change, and housing. After living in Cape Town and multiple rural towns across South Africa, she moved to Iowa as a visiting professor in Anthropology and Global Development Studies before making her way to sunny New Orleans. At PRG, she applies her passion for qualitative research on a number of projects, including SAMHSA and HRSA evaluation projects, which work to address disparities in health outcomes across the US. Outside of work Emily finds joy in running, reading, baking, hiking, traveling, and spending time in her garden. She and her pup Fig can often be found exploring City Park and finding any excuse to be outside.
Eric is a founding partner and the Director of Research at The Policy & Research Group. He met his future wife and partner, Lynne, on a sailboat in the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Central America. Thanks to his tenacity, and a hurricane at sea, she eventually agreed to marry him. Eric received an MMC and a PhD in political communications from LSU. In between, he worked for The New York Times and then briefly lived in Rome, where he started to really like pizza. An inveterate interdisciplinarian, Eric is motivated by empirical questions related to public policy and public affairs - he has published research in The Policy Studies Journal, Political Behavior, the Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, Foreign Affairs, and the American Journal of Health Behavior, among others. Recently, he has led studies that investigate the impact of innovative programs on public health and academic outcomes. When he isn't preoccupied with questions of research design and analytic methods, Eric fixates on things related to point breaks, watts per kilogram, Shimano groupsets, narrative structure, and any type of boat. He is an enthusiastic vegan cook.
A native of rural upstate New York, Hilary has lived in New Orleans since 2007 and joined PRG in 2009. She received her BA in art history from Tulane University (2001) and her MPH, with a concentration in health education and communication, from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (2009). As a Senior Research Analyst, she oversees all research analysts and assistants, ensuring quality and consistency of research plans and protocols for multiple evaluation projects, including ongoing RCTs investigating the efficacy of teen pregnancy prevention interventions (her primary area of interest). She has experience in grant writing, designing research protocols and data collection instruments, and developing data collection protocols and training materials. Prior to moving to New Orleans, Hilary lived in NYC for five years, working for a number of organizations, including the Greater New York Hospital Association Foundation's Health Information Tool for Empowerment project. She enjoys spending her free time being outside walking and hiking as much as possible, partaking in the many festivals and live music options available in this spirited city, and traveling far and wide to experience new people and places.
Jeremy was born and raised in southern California with twin obsessions of sports and punk rock. He graduated from UCLA with a BA in History in 2012 and a deep interest in how societies respond to conflict. Jeremy then moved to New Orleans where he worked as an elementary educator and met his future wife. He moved to Chicago in 2016 to pursue a PhD in Sociology at Northwestern University. For his doctoral research, he conducted a qualitative study of post-conflict identity and collective memory in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. Jeremy joined PRG in 2022, where he works on a variety of projects related to employment and education. When he's not working, Jeremy likes to cook, travel, and cheer on his adopted Saints and Pelicans.
Jordan earned her BA and MA in English Literature and Linguistics from Mississippi State University. During and after her studies, she gained professional experience as a linguistics researcher and English composition instructor, as well as an ESL instructor for English language learners. At PRG, Jordan manages all operational and business affairs, and as a part of PRG's Project Development team, she contributes to the writing of grant applications and seeks out new grant-funded research opportunities for PRG. Additionally, Jordan is a plant enthusiast, bookworm, dabbling yogi, and live music fan. She's also got a deep love and devotion for nearly all animals and pizza.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Analyst
- Lead Research Analyst
Katie discovered her passion for the social sciences in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia as a JMU Duke, obtaining a BA in Psychology and Sociology in 2009. After relocating to New Orleans and working in the mental health field, she went on to obtain a Master of Social Work (2012) and Master of Public Health (2013) from Tulane University, where she developed a penchant for research and evaluation. Bringing this multi-disciplinary perspective, Katie joined PRG as a Research Intern in 2014, contributing to projects focusing on adolescent, behavioral, and public health. As a Senior Research Analyst, Katie primarily works on study design, instrument development, analysis, and reporting for several school-based randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Aside from her abnormally high enthusiasm for Stata, Katie also enjoys gardening, hiking, reading, and working on her baking skills.
Job Titles:
- Research Analyst
- Lead Research Analyst
Kelly joined PRG in 2016 after receiving her BS in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Master's in Public Health at Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Her primary focus at PRG has been managing the rigorous evaluation of school-based interventions across several states, including North Carolina (her home state), New York, Maryland, and New Jersey. She is currently translating her experience with youth-based research to work on projects involving youth with LGBTQ identities and youth in the juvenile justice system. In her free time, she is dancing whenever possible, cheering on UNC's basketball team with sometimes scary intensity, and hanging out with her pup, Babs.
After completing a BA in Sociology/Linguistics, Lynne and her future husband set off from her hometown of Victoria, BC, Canada for Louisiana State University in a twenty-year-old VW van, without air conditioning. She completed her MA in organizational communication with characteristic promptness, and then decamped for a much smaller Manhattan apartment with a much-loved but poorly behaved former street dog. Three years later she took a one-year appointment in Rome, Italy with a United Nations Organization, joined by her soon-to-be husband and the former street dog. After that, PRG seemed like the obvious choice. As one of the founding partners and the Director of Projects, Lynne works to keep the trains running on-time and to ensure excellence. She enjoys being active, whether running, cycling, yoga or weight lifting. She loves her New Orleans neighborhood and has, for the past ten years, spent much of her spare time completing a one-year renovation of her century-old New Orleans home.
Marina grew up in Brunswick, ME, and received her BA in biology and sociology from Bowdoin College in 2020. In 2022, she completed her Master of Science in Clinical Research with a focus on international health at the University of Barcelona. Marina works at PRG as a Junior Research Analyst on various research projects. In her free time, Marina loves listening to podcasts and spending time outdoors swimming, paddle boarding, and hiking with her dog on the coast of Maine.
Job Titles:
- Research Analyst
- Study Coordinator
A native of San Diego, Melissa moved to New Mexico in 2004, where she received a BS and MPH, specializing in community health education, from New Mexico State University. In 2015 Melissa moved to the four corners area of New Mexico to work as a counselor and educator in the field of heath science. With an ever-growing desire to foster the development and implementation of public health programing within her community, Melissa joined PRG in 2017. As a Research Analyst at PRG, Melissa is working with a trauma informed approach to teen pregnancy prevention among youth within the juvenile justice system. In her time outside PRG, Melissa is an avid runner, training for the next marathon, with her three dogs by her side. When not outdoors enjoying the beauty of the Southwest, she is at home working on her next DIY or gardening project.
Job Titles:
- Research Analyst
- Lead Research Analyst
A Virginia native, Noor quickly fell in love with the incredible people, food, and music in New Orleans and happily joined the PRG team in 2016. At PRG, Noor leads several public health and adolescent health-focused randomized controlled trials and needs assessments. Noor holds a BA in Government, an MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and is currently working on her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Prior to moving to New Orleans, Noor worked at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston on research related to the Affordable Care Act and transparency in industry payments to physicians. Outside of PRG, Noor enjoys going on adventures, traveling, kayaking, and hanging out with each and every PRG dog.
As a young idealist, Rebekah shipped off to East Timor to work as a Peace Corps Volunteer in health promotion. This work sparked an interest in public health, so upon returning the U.S., she completed a Master of Public Health at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. While at Tulane, Rebekah applied what she was learning in her new job as a Research Assistant at PRG. Now a Senior Research Analyst, Rebekah is the lead of PRG's Data Management Team, overseeing preparation of quantitative data for analysis and accuracy of data in reporting. Rebekah also oversees PRG's Workforce & Income Focus Area, studying the impact of various interventions on employment outcomes using RCTs and QEDs. This work currently includes the impact evaluations of the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment Program (RESEA) for multiple states. Rebekah is a member of PRG's Leadership Team and only slightly less important, the Field Day Committee (pantyhose bowling, anyone?). Rebekah works remotely from the Midwest, where she enjoys eating pizza, reading, channeling her creativity through various art forms, and walking along the wonderous shores of Lake Michigan.
Sarah grew up in California and moved to New Orleans to attend Tulane University, where she received her bachelor's degree in public health with minors in both international development and environmental science. During her studies, Sarah taught sex education in New Orleans Charter Schools and interned at a local shelter for the unhoused community. She is excited to continue exploring the social and behavioral determinants of health and health equity as a Research Assistant at PRG. In her free time, Sarah enjoys traveling, crafting, spending time outdoors, and attending the many festivals and concerts New Orleans has to offer.
Job Titles:
- Lead Senior Research Analyst
Although posing as a normal human, Sarah has a near extra-terrestrial affinity for Stata and has a deep commitment to using her love of data and statistical analysis to help good programs and policies grow. She also enjoys organizing (things other than her desk), boxed wine, and books where impossible things happen in places that don't really exist. As Lead Senior Research Analyst at PRG, Sarah oversees research design, data analysis, and reporting, working under the Director of Research. Her academic travels have made her an unwitting expert on all things related to SEC football, with degrees from the University of Tennessee, Ole Miss, and LSU. So, on fall Saturdays, her time is spent either loving or despising nearly every team that plays, which keeps her pretty busy. She is also kept busy by her two children and husband who seem to enjoy nothing more than dropping things on the floor, eating with their hands, and crying at random times.
Sarhely, being born and raised in California, did not know what to expect when moving to a swamp, certainly not the humidity nor falling in love with the Big Easy. Attending Loyola University and earning her BA in Economics, she grew passionate about issues pertaining to inequality, poverty, and economic development. Through her time working with the Jesuit Social Research Institute, she investigated human rights violations occurring in detention centers. She also worked with the Music & Culture Coalition of New Orleans. Looking at the economic ecosystem driven by the city's culture, Sarhely grew a keen interest in equitable policy. At PRG, she assists with a variety of projects, including adolescent development and substance abuse treatment programs. Outside of PRG, Sarhely enjoys bird watching, photography, and all things live music.
Job Titles:
- Development Coordinator / Grant Writer
Shara grew up in Baton Rouge and received her BA in English from Tuskegee University. After college, she moved to California, where she attended law school and received her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. She most recently received her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (Fiction) from Rutgers University. Her work at PRG focuses on grant writing and project development. She enjoys writing fiction and playing fetch with her dog.
Teresa received both her BS in Public Health (2013) and her MPH (2015) from Tulane University. While her Master's studies focused on the management of health systems, she fostered an interest in social policy and programs after working at a local AIDS task force and as a peer health educator for a teen pregnancy prevention project. Currently at PRG, Teresa oversees the evaluations of several SAMHSA-funded projects directed toward expanding access to treatment and prevention of substance use disorders. In this work, she aims to make each evaluation as valuable as possible to each agency and the people they serve. After living in New Orleans for nearly 10 years, she moved to Atlanta in 2020 where she can be found meandering, admiring flowers and trees, and enjoying the company of her extremely vocal cat Prudence.