Laura Beals

Background

About Laura Beals

Laura Beals, Ph.D. is a nonprofit data, program evaluation, applied social science research, and technology leader. She is currently the Assistant Vice President of Research and Evaluation at Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath). Previously, she was a Senior Technical Program Manager at Manifold, where she applied her project management skills to machine learning and software development client engagements. Prior to joining Manifold, she was the Director of the Department of Evaluation and Learning at Jewish Family & Children’s Service Boston, a social service agency. Her team managed the agency's client-level data for performance monitoring and evaluation, including the administration and implementation of the agency’s electronic client management systems, ETO and Salesforce/Exponent Case Management (ECM). She also oversaw all external research at JF & CS, including collaborations with research institutions (contracts, data sharing, IRB, etc.). She has written, presented, and taught about a variety of topics including evaluation in nonprofit organizations, technology for evaluation, data visualization, social network analysis, and participatory data analysis. Laura was an adjunct faculty member at the Heller School at Brandeis University, where she taught "Evaluation for Managers," which focused on organizational data strategy, collection, presentation, and use. Prior to joining JF & CS, Laura worked as the Manager for Research, Evaluation, and Technology at Connected Beginnings Training Institute, a professional development training institute for early care and education providers. She served a three-year term as the elected business co-chair of the American Evaluation Association’s Nonprofit and Foundations Topical Interest Group until December 2016. Laura completed her Ph.D. and M.A. at the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts University; she graduated summa cum laude with a BS from the College of Engineering at Tufts.