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
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
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
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.
LaShawnda Bates
Evaluation Assistant Intern
LaShawnda is currently a graduate student at the University of Michigan School of Social Work studying Program Evaluation & Applied Research. She has direct experience in program development and implementation. She has a passion for working with traditionally marginalized and under-represented communities to identify and co-create programs, services and policies that address barriers to equitable access to the social determinants of health.
Diana Curtis, MSW Candidate
Evaluation Assistant
Diana is a University of Michigan School of Social Work student studying Program Evaluation & Applied Research. Since graduating with her bachelor's degrees in Psychology and Gender & Health at U of M in 2018, she has worked at the VA Center for Clinical Management Research. Diana is interested in the intersections of research, policy, and community-based advocacy, grounding evaluation in anti-racist, pro-justice values.
Brad Gonzalez
Evaluation Assistant
Shira Hammerslough
Evaluation Assistant Intern
Shira is a University of Michigan MSW candidate studying Program Evaluation and Applied Research. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree in Clinical Psychology from Reed College, she moved to Taiwan to work as an English teacher in elementary schools. She taught ESL and studied Mandarin for two years, then moved to Ann Arbor to work as a Research Assistant in the University of Michigan Sociology Department. Her previous research varies from adolescent drinking behaviors and social media advertising to the construction of whiteness in American history and culture. She currently serves as the Vice President of the School of Social Work Student Union, the Executive Committee Chair for the student organization Payment for Placements, and liaises for the Graduate Employees' Organization in the School of Social Work. She is passionate about social justice, restorative practices, and interrogating systems of oppression.
Gregory Hoffman
Research Assistant
Sara Livingston
Evaluation Assistant
Sara graduated from the University of Michigan School of Social Work with her Master's degree in December 2022. She is especially interested in program evaluation and applied research in relation to education, food systems, and labor rights in low-wage industries.
Larisa Mednis
Evaluation Assistant
Larisa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies from the University of Pittsburgh, and is a current School of Social Work student pursuing a Master’s degree in the Community Change pathway.
Marie Pattipati
Evaluation Assistant Intern
Marie Aiudi Pattipati (she/her/hers) is currently working towards her Masters of Social Work at the University of Michigan through the Program Evaluation and Research pathway as part of the JCLP cohort. She received her undergraduate degree in Sociology and Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan in 2021. Prior to attending U-M, she served eight years in the military as a member of the Army National Guard. This played a strong role in her research where she examines toxic masculinity, group identity, values, and structures within white nationalist groups. She is the mom of four amazing individuals whom she greatly admires, and enjoys spending time with her family swimming, hiking, and traveling.
Jorgen Reberg
Evaluation Assistant Intern
Although an erstwhile resident of Australia, Scotland, and most recently Norway, Jorgen Reberg is an MSW student in the Program Evaluation and Applied Research Pathway.Jorgen is a graduate of Grand Valley State University, and a current member of the Jewish Communal Leadership Program. His future aspirations include conducting a series of needs assessments in collaboration with the Norwegian Jewish community.
Aiyana Scott
Evaluation Assistant Intern
Aiyana is currently an MSW student at the University of Michigan, where she is focusing her learning on Program Evaluation & Applied Research. She is an Air Force veteran and graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 2021 with her Bachelor's in Social Work. After completing her MSW degree, Aiyana hopes to work at the VA and help improve quality of care and access to services and supports for other veterans. In her free time she enjoys hiking, kayaking, and gaming with her family.
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.