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David Kaz, a principal associate in Abt’s Social and Economic Policy Division, has nearly 20 years of experience providing technical assistance, training, research, and policy analysis. He has worked on a wide range of programs and policies that affect low-income populations. He has directed, designed, and conducted both large- and small-scale, multi-faceted technical assistance projects for federal and state agencies and other clients and stakeholders. Clients have included the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service, Washington State’s Department of Social and Health Services, King County, and the City of Seattle. He has worked on workforce legislation with members of Congress.

Allison Dymnicki has 19 years of experience in designing, directing, and conducting research, evaluation, and technical assistance projects aimed at promoting youth development, behavioral health, and wellbeing, with a particular focus on school, community, and out-of-school settings. She is deeply committed to promoting positive outcomes for all youth. She has partnered with federal agencies like the National Institute of Justice, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, and the Department of Education, as well as foundations, state and local educational agencies, and non-profit organizations. Much of her work focuses on developing researcher practitioner partnerships intended to elevate various perspectives, practitioner viewpoints, and youth voices. 

Adele Robinson brings to Abt more than 30 years of experience in policy development and advocating for children and education, with a focus on early childhood and the early elementary years. From Capitol Hill, national education associations, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to state and local agencies, she has supported the implementation of equitable and effective education as a means of providing success for all of our nation’s families. As a principal associate at Abt, she’ll continue to pursue these goals with our federal clients, as well as at the state and local level, using her expertise in complex policy analysis and strategic technical assistance.

Brooke Abrams is a trained political scientist and researcher. With over 11 years of experience, she specializes in applied housing and health, bringing expertise in managing and contributing to place-based, mixed-method, and community-centered solutions. Her work spans research, evaluation, and technical assistance (TA) projects across diverse policy domains, delivering innovative and tailored strategies to drive impactful change.As a Client Solutions Architect at Abt, Abrams plays a pivotal role in designing client-focused frameworks and solutions that emphasize rigorous, data-informed, multi-disciplinary, and population-tailored design. She specializes in community-specific, monitoring, evaluation, and technical assistance approaches to engage and work alongside persons with lived expertise.

Andrew Clarkwest has more than 18 years of experience in workforce policy and evaluation design. He has held lead management and technical roles in many quantitative and mixed-methods studies, including multi-site random assignment evaluations, quasi-experimental impact evaluations, and descriptive studies. He develops evidence to meet the practical needs of program and policy audiences and makes complex research accessible. He has translated research insights through systematic evidence reviews, technical assistance, and easy-to-consume dissemination products.

Didar Ali Didar is technical advisor for monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) in Abt’s International Technical Practice (ITP). He has more than 10 years of experience in MERL, project design, and management in the areas of agriculture, food security, economic inclusion, civil society, governance, health, and education. He also has experience in women’s rights advocacy, including designing and implementing advocacy plans and organizing national and international events.

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.

Mariandrea Chamorro has 20 years of experience managing international development programs. She has provided oversight for the high-quality and compliant execution of large flagship USAID programs while contributing to business development. Chamorro’s areas of expertise include prevention of vector-borne diseases, infectious diseases, maternal and child health, and health systems strengthening. Her clients have included the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). 

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.

Sandra Wilson is an internationally known expert in research synthesis and meta-analysis. She has conducted systematic reviews of educational programs, most notably on school-based violence prevention and high school dropout programs.Prior to joining Abt, Wilson was the associate director of the Peabody Research Institute and a research assistant professor at Vanderbilt University. Wilson led and supported research projects at the Center for Evaluation Research and Methodology at Vanderbilt.