Program Evaluation Team
As Social Work evaluators, our professional Social Work ethics are at the core of our work. We ground our work in the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics and the American Evaluation Association's Guiding Principles. As researchers, practitioners, and evaluators, we bring a multi-faceted set of skills and experiences to the evaluation process. Project teams are committed to collaborating with our partners in the pursuit of continuous improvement in customer-centered services.
Shawna J. Lee
Director, SSW Program Evaluation Group, Professor of Social Work, and Faculty Associate, Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research
Dr. Shawna J. Lee is Professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. She is Director of the Program Evaluation Group (PEG) and Director of the Parenting in Context Research Lab at the UM-SSW. Dr. Lee has published extensively on child maltreatment, fathers' parenting, father-child relationships, parenting stress and family functioning, and parental discipline. Dr. Lee completed the Joint PhD Program in Social Work and Psychology at the University of Michigan. She was a postdoctoral research scholar at the Columbia University. She teaches courses in research methods, program evaluation, social policy, and on specialized topics such as intervention to reduce use of corporal punishment.
Contact Information
- Email: shawnal@umich.edu
Sue Ann Savas
Program Evaluation Group Associate Director
Sue Ann Savas, MSW, is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. She received her MSW and BA in economics from the University of Michigan. Sue Ann is also an experienced community based practitioner in program evaluation. She specializes in the areas of program design, logic modeling, evaluation planning, implementation evaluations, outcome measurement, and reporting for continuous quality improvement. She uses an interdisciplinary approach, collaborating with providers from the fields of social work, public health, environmental health, and education. She has published numerous articles and book chapters on techniques for building evaluation capacity within organizations and coalitions.
Contact Information
- Email: ssavas@umich.edu
Lisa M. Greco
Program Evaluation Group Program Manager
Lisa Greco, LMSW, is an experienced human services administrator with extensive background in programs serving justice-involved youth. Working in public and nonprofit organizational leadership roles, Greco brings competencies in the areas of program development, staff training, labor relations, budget management, grant writing, strategic planning and multi-sector coalition building. Greco's professional body of work is rooted in operationalizing social justice values, and in optimizing individual and systemic capacity for effective delivery of human services.
Contact Information
- Email: grecol@umich.edu
Kathryn Colasanti
Program Evaluation Group Evaluation Associate
Kathryn Colasanti, MS, is an Evaluation Associate with the Program Evaluation Group. She has more than a decade of evaluation, research, and project management experience and brings a passion for advancing equity and building organizational capacity in evaluation. Kathryn has strong experience in community development, cross-sector collaboration, and network management. She holds a master's degree in community sustainability and a graduate certificate in program evaluation, both from Michigan State University.
Contact Information
- Email: kcolasan@umich.edu
Flavio Di Stefano
Program Evaluation Group Evaluation Associate
Flavio Di Stefano, MSW, is an Evaluation Associate with the Program Evaluation Group. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in International Relations from Oakland University and his MSW from the University of Michigan. Flavio first began working in the evaluation field at direct service organizations supporting the immigrant and domestic violence survivor communities. He has since continued to support data-driven cultures and organizations to evaluate processes, outcomes, and impact, and make data-informed decisions. Flavio is versed in facilitation, program design, implementation, analysis, and visualization. He is particularly interested in harnessing the power of new technology to continue to elevate equitable and accessible evaluation practices.
Contact Information
- Email: fdiste@umich.edu
Elizabeth Evans
Program Evaluation Group Evaluation Associate
Elizabeth Evans, MSW, LLMSW is an Evaluation Associate with the Program Evaluation Group. She has over 18 years of experience in community-based program and project management which complements her work with the Program Evaluation Group. Sharing her knowledge of project management and evaluation with others is a passion as she believes knowledge is best shared, not kept to oneself. Elizabeth earned her Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and her MSW from Grand Valley State University with an Advanced Generalist focus. Elizabeth is a current doctoral student in Health Administration at Central Michigan University and is interested in areas of health equity; improving access to affordable, patient driven care for populations facing the highest health disparities.
Contact Information
- Email: evanse@umich.edu
Katharine (Kate) Helegda
Program Evaluation Group Evaluation Associate
Katharine (Kate) Helegda, MSW, is an Evaluation Associate with the Program Evaluation Group. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and Anthropology and her MSW in Community Organizing from the University of Michigan. Kate has ten years of experience in the youth development field in both interpersonal practice and research/evaluation. Kate's passion is on bridging the gap between theory and practice to make evaluation actionable and accessible. Kate's work is rooted in capacity building with the goal of making data approachable and fun. Her evaluation process is centered around the permission to play, explore, and be curious.
Contact Information
- Email: helegda@umich.edu
Shalonda Williams
Program Evaluation Group Evaluation Associate
Shalonda Williams, MSW, is an Evaluation Associate with the Program Evaluation Group. She earned her BSW from Eastern Michigan University and her MSW from Washington University-St Louis with a concentration in Violence and Injury Prevention. Shalonda approaches her work from a place of person-centered engagement, blending academic training in interdisciplinary analysis of social systems with hands-on experience in youth development, project management, and program evaluation to support organizations in making sustainable and equitable impact. Some of her interests include topics related to Health Equity & Education, K-12 Education Curriculum & Instructional Reform, Violence & Injury Prevention, and Sexual Health/Reproductive Justice.
Contact Information
- Email: shalondw@umich.edu
Leigh Rauk
Research Associate
Dr. Leigh Rauk is an equity-driven researcher and evaluator with an extensive background in community-based research and evaluation. Her work has spanned a variety of social change topic areas including school safety, educational equity, firearm injury prevention, youth development, community development, and equity in the arts. She received her Ph.D. in Community Well-Being from the University of Miami in 2021. Dr. Rauk has strong experience building partnerships with community organizations and their stakeholders; designing and leading mixed-methods research and evaluation studies; facilitating organizational learning and capacity building; and utilizing collaborative, participatory, action-oriented approaches to evaluation and research partnerships. Dr. Rauk's work is rooted in collaboration, developing authentic and long-standing partnerships, and engaging in critical reflexive practice.
Contact Information
- Email: lmrauk@umich.edu
Erika Barker
Evaluation Assistant Intern
Erika is a Master's in Social Work student with a pathway in Program Evaluation and Applied Research. She is passionate about research, data, and dancing. In addition to program evaluation, Erika is the president of the Michigan Ballroom Dance Team and spends their free time dancing.
Julio Canino
Evaluation Assistant Intern
Julio is an MSW student in the Program Evaluation & Applied Research pathway at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. He has experience with qualitative and quantitative research. His passion for research stems from a social justice framework. He believes research is a way to expose systemic and social oppressions because common objectives must be identified to develop new strategies to advance human rights and achieve social justice. After obtaining his MSW, Julio plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Social Work to contribute to immigration reform to help achieve an equitable and diverse society.
Xizi Yan
Research Assistant
Xizi Yan, LLMSW, is a recent MSW graduate of the University of Michigan School of Social Work, concentrating in Welfare of Children and Families. She has experience working with under-resourced children and adolescents, and low SES families, and is passionate about supporting children and adolescents who are experiencing educational inequity and developing community-based interventions for promoting their academic success. She is also interested in how child psychopathology affects early childhood development among underrepresented populations, and how behavior learning, self-regulation and resilience help children navigate through difficulties during development.