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Robin Koralek is a seasoned evaluator and project director with over 30 years of experience in evaluating federal and state social welfare programs. Her expertise spans areas such as food assistance, employment and training cash assistance, and barriers to employment, including for those recovering from substance use disorders. She has worked with various governmental and non-profit organizations, focusing on program design, implementation, and outcomes.

Lauren Pittenger comes to Abt with more than 20 years of experience working in or as a consultant to federal government agencies. She has strong grounding in research and research-based consulting to government clients. She also has extensive experience leading and growing business, managing technical and scientific projects, and coaching and supporting account teams. She has served as a director at Guidehouse, scientific program manager at Booz Allen Hamilton, and lab manager at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She has worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Canadian Public Health Laboratory Network, the Gates Foundation and the Association of Public Health Laboratories.

Meghan Henry is a social science researcher with over 15 years of experience in public policy and program evaluation, specifically in the fields of housing and homelessness and the intersection of homelessness and education. Henry has extensive experience leading evaluations, including large data collection efforts, conducting qualitative data collection, data analysis, and outcome evaluations. As project director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress, she has considerable experience synthesizing large amounts of information to make the data accessible and actionable for federal, state, local, and philanthropic clients.

Lauren Olsho is a senior health economist and evaluator with expertise in random assignment, quasi-experimental evaluation methods, economic modeling methodology, and advanced statistical and econometric analysis.Olsho’s primary research interests are in health, nutrition and health behaviors in vulnerable populations – including the elderly, the poor, program participants, minorities, arrestees and at-risk youth.Olsho recently served as principal investigator on a cluster random assignment evaluation of the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality On-Time Falls Prevention Initiative, a clinical decision support intervention to reduce falls in long-term care settings.

Dr. Michael Plotzke is a senior health economist with expertise in the area of Medicare payment policy, the organization of healthcare providers and quality measurement. His work typically involves the analysis of large datasets such as Medicare claims, assessment and enrollment data. Dr. Plotzke serves as principal investigator for multiple projects with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.  On the “Home Health Prospective Payment System and Hospice: Analysis Support and Monitoring” project, Dr. Plotzke leads a team of researchers in analyzing trends in Medicare hospice and home health usage and constructing large-scale payment reform options for both benefits.  Dr. Plotzke also leads the “Evaluation of the Medicare Care Choices Model” project that evaluates a new payment model for end-of-life care that is being tested with 141 hospice providers.  This project involves analysis of existing administrative data and collection of new data through surveys of caregivers, surveys of hospice providers and in-depth case studies of hospice providers participating in the model.

Lori Hunter is a Project Management Professional and a Certified Scrum Master with 20 years of experience working in systems analysis, functional requirements analysis, user-centered design and user experience, database administration and design, and web design and development. Her projects and experience represent a range of complexities, including administrative and evaluation data collection and reporting systems analysis and visualization, clearinghouses, websites, technical assistance tracking, evaluation data collection, interactive online tools and libraries, communities of practice, and Section 508 compliance. She has been the lead project manager for several large CMMI-3 IT implementations. Her responsibilities have included directing project team personnel; managing scope, schedule, budget, and risk; ensuring contract compliance; and serving as the interface with the customer and customer stakeholders.

Hanna Kovalova is a program manager with 15 years of experience managing humanitarian aid and development programs in Ukraine, with a recent focus on the eastern part of the country ravaged by the war with Russia. She has worked with international organizations, including the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the United Nations, as well as social enterprises. Kovalova’s work with vulnerable populations has centered around gender equality, non-discrimination, conflict sensitivity, and social inclusion. She has extensive experience with monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning approaches; program management; and communication strategies in public health, mental health, and community stabilisation.

Austin Gooden is a software architect at TSPi, a Division of Abt Global, with 6 years of experience delivering innovative software solutions in the public sector. With expertise spanning the entire Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Gooden has worked across a broad range of technologies, from Low-Code/No-Code platforms to legacy frameworks and multiple programming languages.  He has successfully delivered a variety of solutions for the U.S. Federal Government that enable systems to adapt seamlessly to congressional mandates, agency policies, and program definition, all while achieving the mission objectives of the IT initiative.

Diane Fraser started out working in art departments for a marketing product manufacturer in high school and a consulting firm in college. After college, she began a career in non-profits, where she developed and managed communications, public relations, fundraising, and events.

Sunnie McClain is a senior technology and transformation executive with more than 25 years of experience leading large scale digital modernization across federal, defense, health, and commercial sectors.