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Directory: FCP Evaluation/Results Accountability
Team
Steve Erickson, Ph.D.,
is
the Evaluation/Results Accountability Team leader for Georgia Family
Connection Partnership. He spent a decade working as a service provider
and administrator in Georgia's public mental health system, followed
by several years managing research projects at Emory University.
Since joining EMSTAR in 1990 he has specialized in the evaluation
and development of public and nonprofit organizations, especially
community coalitions. His doctorate is in community psychology from
Georgia State University.
James
G. Emshoff, Ph.D., is an associate professor and the director
of the Community Psychology Program at Georgia State University.
He is also the director of Research at EMSTAR Research, Inc., a
program evaluation and organizational consultation firm.
Rebekah
Hudgins is an anthropologist/epidemiologist who serves as Georgia's
Early Childhood Initiative state evaluator and a member of the Family
Connection Partnership State Evaluation Team. She has worked with
the Division of Public Health and CDC in active surveillance; conducted
ethnographic research including extensive home visits in Jamaica;
and conducted drug studies in both Jamaica and the United States.
Throughout all her work she has focused on the intergenerational
and environmental aspects of women's and children's health, and
the critical nature of the family and community context.
Valerie
Hutcherson, Ph.D., spent five years working as an evaluation
specialist with the State of Georgia Department of Education, and
currently serves as director of Evaluation at the Merdian Education
Resource Group (d/b/a Whiteford Community Program)—a 501(c)
3, nonprofit organization in southeast Atlanta. She joined the Evaluation/Results
Accountability team in the fall of 2003. Her background is in ecological
community psychology.
Sayge
Medlin, B.S., MSW,
the only local Family Connection coordinator on the Evaluation/Results
Accountability Team, has an undergraduate degree in Child and Family
Development and a master's degree in Social Work from The University
of Georgia. Before becoming coordinator of the Oconee Area Resource
Council in July 2004, Sayge served as Community Facilitator for
Region 5. Prior to that, she served as program director for a nonprofit
organization in northeast Georgia. There she developed and implemented
programming focused on community-based activism, personal safety,
and school-based youth violence prevention.
Ann
Peisher, D.P.A., is retired from the University of Georgia,
where she was an associate professor and Extension Program evaluation
specialist until her retirement in November 2000. She received a
doctorate in public administration/evaluation from the University
of Georgia in 1987 and undergraduate and master's degrees from Georgia
Southern College.
Stanley
Schneider is senior research associate and senior vice president
at Metis Associates, a research firm specializing in social services
research, evaluation and information management. He serves on Metis'
technical assistance teams for the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Family-to-Family
Initiative and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation's Community Partnerships
for the Protection of Children Initiatives. He also participates
in the statewide evaluation of the Family Connection Initiative.
He is a former public elementary and middle school teacher and a
graduate of New York University.
Julie
Sharpe has 11 years of experience in community development and
10 years of experience in agricultural research. She was the founder
and executive director of the Tift County Commission on Children
and Youth and was instrumental in bringing more than $4 million
of competitive state and federal funds to support the community
strategic plan. Julie has extensive experience in program and fiscal
management and has served as a board member for several nonprofit
organizations. She has a master's degree in geography and plant
ecology from Arizona State University in Tempe and a bachelor's
degree in geography from the University of Georgia in Athens.
Donna
Wilkens, a managing senior associate at Metis, has more than
17 years of experience in designing and carrying out program evaluations
and research projects in the area of elementary and secondary education.
In March 1999, Donna Wilkens relocated to Georgia to manage Metis'
satellite office in downtown Atlanta. Since then, Donna has been
involved in a number of research projects in the human services.
She designed and directed an in-depth study of the quality and utility
of the training programs delivered by Georgia Academy, an Atlanta-based,
not-for-profit organization.This work focused on training conducted
for social services case workers and supervisors of the Georgia
Department of Family and Children's Services (DFCS). Donna recently
served as a lead researcher in a case study effort that was undertaken
as part of an overall impact evaluation of Georgia's Family Connection
initiative. Using ethnographic research methods, she studied the
workings of several community collaboratives to determine the underlying
causes of their success. The results of this study are being used
to inform collaborative "best practices" in Georgia and to contribute
to the knowledge base about the "Theory of Change."
Additionally,
the State Evaluation/Results Accountability team is enriched by
the membership of liaisons from other FCP teams:
Arianne Weldon, MPH, serves as the community facilitator
for Region 1, encompassing the 15 counties in Northwest Georgia.
Prior to joining Georgia Family Connection Partnership, Arianne
worked with the State Division of Public Health, Family Health Branch,
during which she managed the development and implementation of the
data system for Georgia's Newborn Screening Program, which includes
hospital-based screening of all newborns for metabolic diseases
and hemoglobinopathies. Her training includes serving as a guest
researcher with CDC conducting active surveillance of bacterial
meningitis, which included designing, implementing, and managing
a data system covering a population of more than 32 million people
in the United States and Canada. During her master's education,
Arianne conducted research at Grady Memorial Hospital with the Emory
University School of Medicine on overcoming barriers to care for
African-Americans with Type II diabetes. In 1996 she received the
Emory University Humanitarian Award for her leadership with a blood-borne
disease prevention community education project in Atlanta. Arianne
has a bachelor's degree in sociology with a concentration in social
data analysis from Georgia State University, and a master's degree
in public health from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory
University.
Sherry
Witherington has served as community facilitator for the 11
Central Georgia counties comprising Region 6 since July 2006. Prior
to joining Georgia Family Connection Partnership she worked for
five years as Family Connection coordinator in Stewart County. During
part of her tenure as coordinator she served as chair of the Region
8 Peer-to-Peer Network and on the Statewide Peer-to-Peer Advisory
Council. Both as a coordinator and now as a community facilitator,
she has been a part of the Coordinator Professional Development
team. Sherry previously worked for Xerox Corporation in sales and
for radio wholesale marketing where she was vice president of Sales.
She received a bachelor's degree in business administration from
GA Southwestern State University in Americus, Ga. She's received
additional leadership training through multiple leadership courses
most recently graduating from the GA Academy for Regional Economic
& Leadership Development. Sherry has been sought after to serve
on various boards and advisory councils because of her common-sense
approach to strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation that
is a result of her diverse background and the hands-on training
she's received being a member of the Family Connection family.
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