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Allan Porowski joined the Social and Economic Policy Division of Abt Global in 2014 as a principal associate. He is a leading expert in the design, execution and analysis of randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental studies and national cross-site evaluations of education, health and other social interventions.

Dr. Kerry Hofer has almost 20 years of experience conducting rigorous research in early childhood settings. Dr. Hofer has in-depth knowledge of large-scale childcare programs, including public state-run prekindergarten programs and Head Start/Early Head Start, as well as more informal care settings.  She has worked with early educational programs and staff across the country.  Dr. Hofer has been a key member on several large-scale projects funded by organizations such as the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institutes of Health, primarily focusing on analytic techniques with quantitative data. The majority of her research involves rigorous quantitative evaluations of early educational programs and practices targeted at children from impoverished families, focusing on program impact and model delivery.

Etienne Fondjo is a medical entomologist specializing in malaria with 20 years of experience in project management and malaria control funded by the public sector and its partners. He has served as the national malaria coordinator and as the deputy national malaria coordinator in Cameroon’s National Malaria Control Program (NMCP). He has also consulted for the World Health Organization (WHO) in five countries, served as principal investigator for 11 projects in Cameroon, and was the Central Africa coordinator for the Mapping Malaria Risk in Africa (MARA) project in nine countries.

Raquel González, Ph.D., has over 20 years of experience conducting research and evaluations focused on early childhood development, K-12 school systems, and institutes of higher education. Her work includes developing and conducting culturally responsive and equitable evaluations aimed at supporting the whole child, with a focus on children from birth to five and their families. She also has led large-scale impact evaluations to assess the efficacy of programs. She brings expertise working with a variety of local and state agencies in California, as well as with foundations and non-profits.

Shelly Spoeth brings more than 25 years of strategic communication and social marketing experience to tackling complex health and social issues.  She  worked for a decade with pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients while at public relations firms including Ketchum, FleishmanHillard and Cohn & Wolfe. She then worked as a consultant for government and nonprofit clients, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on behavioral change challenges ranging from HIV/AIDS to COVID-19. Spoeth has implemented, evaluated, and managed dozens of projects that improved health outcomes. Her capabilities include formative research and digital outreach.

Mbuso Jama has more than 17 years of experience as a Monitoring Evaluation Accountability Research and Learning expert (MEAL and MERL). His work has involved humanitarian, rehabilitation, and development efforts in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Partnership countries. His experience ranges from designing MEAL systems for adaptive management to impact evaluations. He has worked on projects funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), United Nations, US Agency for International Development (USAID), Canadian International Development Agency, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, European Union, and European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.