Leadership

IC TIG Leadership Team 2025

Nathan Browning
https://kiaerresearch.com/
Chair

Nathan is a born-and-raised Michigander living in Kalamazoo. He works with organizations that are trying to make the world a better place, especially around health and criminal justice. He knows his way around a spreadsheet and really enjoys visualizing data as well as conducting statistical analyses, but relishes any opportunity to do qualitative inquiry (especially in-person). Fun Fact: Nathan enjoys riding his ebike for transportation and is a local advocate for safe and viable walking, biking, and transit infrastructure.

Naaima Khan
https://www.creategood.space/
Outgoing Chair

Naaima is based in the Greater Houston, Texas area. Her business, Create Good, helps organizations and individuals advance racial and economic justice through equity-centered strategic planning, evaluation and storytelling services. Fun Fact: Naaima started her business in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area and misses walking the lakes and trails.

Emma Alston
https://ginkgoleafideas.com/
Chair-Elect

Emma works with organizations in public health, social services, and biomedical research to understand what’s working and how to make it better. As a program evaluator, applied researcher, and grant writer, she enjoys helping teams think creatively about program design, strategy, and capacity building. She joined AEA in 2001 at the start of her independent consulting journey and quickly found a home in the IC TIG. She now co-hosts the monthly Metrics & Mentors discussion group and is excited to step into this next chapter with the TIG as part of the “chair sandwich.”

Kayla Meyers
https://kmeyersconsulting.com/
Program Co-Chair (Y2)

Kayla is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Bridgepoint Evaluation, a women owned small business located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
They partner directly with organizations to transform messy data into clear insights, helping them see and communicate their impact effectively. Bridgepoint offers training and classes to make program evaluation easy to understand, empowering anyone who wants to learn how to do it. They serve mission-driven organizations who need a comprehensive measure of their community impact. Fun Fact: I love animals and animal facts! Want to chat about an animal species you just learned about? I'm your girl. 

Jenny Perla
https://www.poderconsultinggroup.com/
Program Co-Chair (Y1)

Jenny is the owner and partner of Poder Consulting Group, where she works with organizations to strengthen community engagement, research, evaluation, and policy efforts. With more than a decade of experience in participatory and action-oriented research, she helps teams make sense of their data and build practical tools that support real-world change. As Program Co-Chair, she’s committed to creating spaces where IC TIG members can learn from one another, feel supported, and grow their consulting practice. Fun Fact: Jenny unwinds by picking up barbells during her morning CrossFit classes and is still on her never-ending quest to finally conquer a pull-up.

Mary Louise Cates LaCroix
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-louise-cates-lacroix-467209133/
Newsletter Editor

Mary Louise works as an independent consultant for evaluations in the international development space. She primarily supports mixed-methods impact evaluations focused on resilience, food security, Human Rights, and micro-lending. In plain terms, she conducts surveys and focus groups, analyzes results, writes reports, and presents findings that help clients make decisions about what comes next. Mary Louise has worked in Central America, MENA, East Africa, and Oceania. In her spare time, she stops to smell the flowers in her beautiful home state of Montana. Fun Fact: Mary Louise loves learning languages. She is fluent in Spanish and French and dabbles in Italian. One day, she will start studying Portuguese and Arabic. 

Jolene Torres
https://www.jtorresconsulting.com/
Social Media/ Web Chair

Jolene is a consultant in systems improvement and evaluation who describes herself as an “organizational mechanic.” She helps leaders figure out what’s getting in the way when hard work isn’t translating into results. With 20+ years supporting nonprofits, public agencies, and education systems, she focuses on strengthening systems and workflows, data decision-making,and how impact is understood and communicated. She’s bilingual in English and Spanish. Fun Fact: Jolene has lived on 4 continents and done public speaking in 3 languages.