Michelle Abraczinskas, PhD.
Chair (2019 - current)
Email: michelle.abraczinskas@gmail.com
Michelle Abraczinskas, PhD. is a clinical-community psychologist, and a post-doctoral fellow at Arizona State University’s REACH Institute, until July 2020. She will then begin an Assistant Professor position in the Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences at the University of Florida in August focused on prevention science and youth development. She has been involved in program evaluation, mainly empowerment, participatory, and youth-focused evaluation, for nine years.
Jonathan P. Scaccia, PhD
Co-Chair (2020-current)
Email: jonathan.p.scaccia@wandersmancentercenter.org
Jonathan Scaccia, is a Partner and Chief Operating Officer of the Wandersman Center. He has extensive experience has been in helping organizations select, adapt, implement, and evaluate community-based improvement interventions. He currently uses comprehensive, applied research methods to evaluate quantitative and qualitative differences in organizational readiness. These methods have been used in multiple projects that span very different settings (community coalitions, schools, US Air Force bases, federally qualified health centers, and more). He also researches change manage strategies to build readiness. His evaluation work with Wandersman Center partners was awarded the American Evaluation Association’s 2017 Evaluation of the Year. Jonathan obtained his PhD in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of South Carolina. He previously completed a research fellowship in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OASH/HHS). He is also an evaluation consultant & faculty with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Finger Lakes Law and Social Policy Center.
Erica Sandman Clarke
Program Co-Chair (2019- current)
Email: Ericasandman@yahoo.com
Erica Sandman Clarke is an Evaluation Specialist at The Evaluation Center located at the University of Colorado Denver. Erica has experience in evaluating hospital and health center based interventions and programs, community-based coalitions, and statewide public health initiatives. She has worked with a wide variety of stakeholders across multiple health issues. Erica received her Master’s Degree in Psychology at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Ijeoma Ezeofor, PhD, MPH
Program Co-Chair (2020 - current)
Email: iezeofor@tccgrp.com
Ijeoma Ezeofor is a consultant within the Evaluation & Learning practice of TCC Group, a social impact consulting firm based in New York, NY. Ijeoma possesses a wealth of experience in the social sector with particular expertise in the psychology and public health disciplines. As a trained psychologist with expertise in social behavior and health communication, Ijeoma believes that understanding the people absorbed in complex social problems is the first step toward solving them. At TCC Group, Ijeoma’s contributions span a variety of social impact projects and issues including health, education, advocacy, and equity. Ijeoma holds Masters degrees in psychology and public health and has a PhD in counseling psychology.
Lindsey Barranco, PhD
Webmaster (2020 - current)
Email: yzi9@cdc.gov
Lindsey Barranco is a Behavioral Scientist on the Program Evaluation & Translation Team at CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) in the Division of Violence Prevention (DVP). She has over 15 years of experience implementing and supporting others in program evaluation, performance measurement, and planning at the program and system levels. Prior to CDC, she worked at Cloudburst Consulting, providing technical assistance to states and local communities addressing homelessness. While at Cloudburst, she also worked with NCIPC on several projects related to program and policy evaluation. Lindsey also worked within the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for several years providing policy, program and evaluation guidance for the State Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless. Lindsey received her PhD in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of South Carolina.
Leadership Council
L. Duane House, PhD
Leadership Council (2020 - current)
Email: hve8@cdc.gov
L. Duane House is a community psychologist and a scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where he has focused on adolescent reproductive health and teen pregnancy prevention. He co-lead the evaluation of a 5-year community-wide teen pregnancy prevention initiative to reduce teenage pregnancy and provided expertise on the implementation of evidence-based interventions and mobilizing communities to prevent teen pregnancy. Dr. House currently collaborates on a Randomized Control Trial testing a computer-assisted motivational interviewing intervention to increase young males condom use, partner communication regarding contraception, and use of reproductive health services; recently, Dr. House has begun working to build capacity for emergency preparedness and response regarding women of reproductive age including pregnant and postpartum women and newborn infants. Dr. House’s area of expertise includes implementation science, evaluation capacity building, and positive youth development. Duane received his PhD in Psychology at Georgia State University and resides in Atlanta.
Kenneth Linfield, PhD
Leadership Council (2019- current)
email: KLinfield@spalding.edu
Ken Linfield is a professor and the Director of Graduate training in the PsyD program at Spalding University in Louisville, KY where he teaches the course in Program Evaluation for the doctoral students as well as courses in Community Psychology for undergraduate students. Having been the Evaluator for a number of programs over the years, he currently concentrates on overseeing the groups of Program Evaluation students conducting evaluations with local agencies and following up with those agencies after the classes end. Some recent programs provide community services for adults with chronic mental illness, residential treatment for children with behavioral issues, and emergency financial assistance. Ken received his PhD in Clinical / Community Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Brittany S. Cook, PhD
Leaderships Council (2020-current)
Email: brittany.s.cook@wandersmancent.org
Brittany Cook is a Partner and Vice President of Education and Human Development of the Wandersman Center. Her work involves assessing and building organizational readiness, implementation support, and formative and empowerment evaluation. She has worked with a variety of organizations including community coalitions, schools, and after-school programs and in multiple content areas including physical activity, healthy eating, family engagement, and building police-community relationships. Her particular interest and expertise is working with youth serving settings. She and her Wandersman Center partners were recipients of the American Evaluation Association’s 2017 Evaluation of the Year award. She earned her PhD in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of South Carolina.
Mayah Williams, MA
Leadership Council (2020 - current)
Email: pro0@cdc.gov
Mayah Williams received a Master of Arts in Community Psychology with a concentration in Program Development from the University of New Haven and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Management and Organization from Spelman College. She is currently an Evaluation Fellow at the Center of Disease Control in Atlanta, Ga. There, she provides evaluation support for the National Center for Emerging Zoontic Infectious Diseases’ Diversity and Inclusion council, training initiatives, and other programs related to employee engagement and operations. She also a part of the Deployer Support team, helping provide evaluation support for the COV-19 response. Mayah is also the Founder and Executive Director or the nonprofit organization, MaconIt, that aims to assist with the personal and professional development of college students by providing them with the social and financial support they need to succeed in college and beyond. Her passion for equity and inclusion encourages her to create opportunities for people to be seen and heard. She aspires to continue to empower organizations and individuals to implement change that is rooted in the value and appreciation of people.