What interested you in working for Butler?
Butler's commitment to work that supports children and families was really the biggest motivator for me when I applied to work at Butler over 15 years ago. My time at Butler has been a significant part of my career. Prior to beginning my tenure at Butler, I worked at the University of Louisville in Kentucky where I spent several years supporting research focused on child development. When I decided to move to Colorado, I applied to Butler and actually had an interview the morning after I had driven across the country. I am so fortunate that the day after my interview I received a call from Butler and started my journey here.
What is your position at Butler? What do you enjoy most about your position?
I am a senior research associate at Butler and lead research and evaluation projects related to early care and education (ECE). What I enjoy most in my position is collaborating with programs and partners to help them use data and evaluation to support their learning and continually improve.
What projects are you working on currently?
I currently lead several evaluation projects at Butler including the evaluation of the Tony Grampsas Youth Services (TGYS) program. TGYS is a state-administered statutory grant program within the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) that funds local prevention, intervention and education programs for children, youth and their families in Colorado with the goal of preventing youth crime and violence, youth drug use, high school dropout and child abuse and neglect.
What are the outcomes you hope for with this project? How will this project impact the community?
I am so excited to lead the annual evaluation of the TGYS portfolio of programs to assess program implementation and child/youth outcome and provide training and technical assistance on evaluation compliance and evaluation capacity building to grantees. Through our work we hope to demonstrate the impact of TGYS grantee programs on the children, youth and families they serve.
