Radha Roy

Radha Roy is a mixed-methods researcher and senior evaluation leader with over 16 years of experience designing and directing large-scale federal evaluations of workforce development, income support, and education programs. Skilled in quantitative and qualitative research, she has led randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental impact studies, implementation evaluations, and systematic evidence reviews for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), U.S. Department of Education (ED), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA, National Science Foundation (NSF), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Her expertise centers on understanding how complex human services systems, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), workforce development, and education programs, interact to support economic mobility across life stages and populations, with a strong commitment to rigorous, inclusive research and evidence-building.

Currently, she serves as Principal Investigator for the Sectoral Training Evidence-Building Project, a mixed-methods evaluation of FareStart's culinary sector workforce programs, examining which program components and employer engagement strategies drive stronger employment outcomes for participants facing significant barriers to employment. She also leads DOL’s RESEA 2 Evidence Building Project Selection Model Study Task, directing a multi-partner study that examines the state unemployment insurance claimant selection models. As Task Lead for AI-Assisted Systematic Evidence Reviews on DOL's CLEAR ARISE project, she leads the design and implementation of AI-assisted study review protocols, positioning Abt at the frontier of evidence synthesis innovation.

Previously, Roy served as Project Director for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Wave 4 Surveys, the most comprehensive national study of FMLA use and leave-taking in over a decade, overseeing a two-survey study of employees and employers for the DOL Chief Evaluation Office, including all aspects of data collection, analysis, and reporting. She directed the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) 2.0 National Evaluation COVID-Cohort Study for ACF/HHS, managing a complex survey-based study of healthcare career pathways participants to assess program effectiveness before and after the pandemic. For ED, , she has contributed to major federal evaluations for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), including the Study of Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV, Part A), a national study of covering a census of states and a nationally representative sample of school districts; the Comprehensive Center Program Design Research Project, an implementation evaluation of ED’s capacity-building grants to state and local education agencies; and the TRIO Upward Bound evaluation, a study of college access services for low-income and first-generation college students. Her career also includes a decade-long leadership role in the HPOG National Implementation Evaluation and the evaluation of NASA's Space Grant College and Fellowship Program. 

Expertise

• Mixed-Methods Research (Quantitative and Qualitative)
• Federal Program Evaluation and Implementation Research
• Randomized Controlled Trials and Quasi-Experimental Design
• Workforce Development, Income Support, and Economic Mobility
• K-12 and Higher Education
• AI-Assisted Systematic Evidence Reviews
• Career Pathways; TANF

Key Projects

• Principal Investigator, Sectoral Training Evidence-Building Project: Evaluation of FareStart, Ascendium Education Group (2025-Present)
• Study Lead, RESEA 2 Evidence Building Project, DOL (2026-Present)
• Project Director, HPOG 2.0 National Evaluation COVID-Cohort Study, ACF/HHS (2023-2025)
• Project Director, Family and Medical Leave Act Wave 4 Surveys, DOL (2016-2020)
• Senior Technical Assistance Lead & Cross-Site Process Evaluation Team, Community Collaborations to Strengthen and Preserve Families, Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE), ACH HHS
• Task Lead, Study of Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants (Title IV, Part A), IES ED (2019-2024)

Publications

• Roy, Radha, Douglas Walton, Lola Jacquin, and Jasmine Harmon. (2024). Challenges and Opportunities for Workforce Programs in Rural Areas: Evidence from HPOG 2.0. OPRE 2024-112. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Roy, Radha, Robin Koralek, Nayara Mowry, and Emily Roessel. (2022). Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG 2.0) National Evaluation Implementation Study Report. OPRE Report 2022-237. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/health-profession-opportunity-grants-hpog-20-national-evaluation-implementation-study
• Brown, Scott R., Herr, Jane L., Roy, Radha, and Klerman, Jacob A. (2020). Employee and Worksite Perspectives of the Family and Medical Leave Act. Produced for the U.S. Department of Labor, Chief Evaluation Office. Rockville, MD: Abt Associates Inc. https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OASP/evaluation/pdf/WHD_FMLA2018SurveyResults_FinalReport_Aug2020.pdf
• Roy, Radha, et al. (2022). Agile during a Pandemic: How HPOG 2.0 Programs Responded to COVID-19. OPRE Report 2022-71. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/agile-during-pandemic-how-hpog-20-programs-responded-covid-19
• Werner, Alan, Robin Koralek, Pamela Loprest, Radha Roy, et al. (2016). Descriptive Implementation and Outcome Study Report: National Implementation Evaluation of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG). OPRE Report 2016-30. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/descriptive-implementation-and-outcome-study-report-national-implementation-evaluation

Certification

• Human-Centered Design (certified)
• Generative AI for Qualitative Research (certified)
• Abt Data Visualization Fellow
• Abt Technical Assistance and Implementation Academy