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Niko Dietsch has 20 years of experience working on domestic and international government initiatives to support the clean energy transition and improve air quality. Dietsch has expertise in clean energy policy evaluation, federal voluntary program delivery, and international capacity building. He spent 16 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) State and Local Branch working to advance clean energy as a strategy to help states meet their clean air and climate change requirements. This included playing a lead role in developing the energy efficiency provisions of EPA’s Clean Power Plan and establishing regulations that allow states and cities to include renewables and energy efficiency in their Clean Air Act (CAA) plans.

Dr. Lianne Fisman is an experienced researcher and a recognized expert in qualitative and mixed method research design, and analysis. She specializes in evaluating and strengthening programs that support economically disadvantaged individuals and communities. Dr. Fisman currently leads Abt’s Qualitative and Mixed Methods sub-capability. During her tenure at Abt, Dr. Fisman has served as project director and task leader on projects related to a variety of policy areas, including housing, youth and community development, education, and financial wellness.

Dr. Caroline Logan is a senior associate and health services researcher with over 15 years of experience in policy-focused mixed methods evaluation design, rigorous data collection and analysis, and development of integrated mixed methods reports and deliverables. Her expertise in federal and state health policy includes Medicare and Medicaid financing and delivery systems, care transformation and system integration, maternal health, the health and well-being of children, and the intersection of health and housing.

Dr. Satyendra Prasad is the Principal Technical Lead for Abt’s climate initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region. Dr. Prasad is a diplomat and governance expert with over two decades of governance experience across international organizations, including the United Nations (UN), World Bank, and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) – now known as the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

Jennifer S. Riggs, Ph.D., brings her extensive research, policy, and nursing experience to improve care for patients, especially older adults. Her clinical area of expertise is Medicare-certified home health and home and community-based care for adults and older adults with multiple co-occurring chronic conditions and complex care coordination needs.

Teresa Mota, BSN, RN is an Associate/Nurse Researcher and a sought-after clinical researcher on federal and state projects emphasizing aging, long-term care, and improving the care experience. Mota has an extensive clinical and health services research background in geriatric nursing, and she specializes in post-acute care, quality improvement (QI) and supporting community-based providers and stakeholders to assist them in the identification of best-practices, develop resources and tools, communications, and implementation of QI initiatives. Mota also participates in data collection, measurement, analysis, and reporting related to these programs.

Matthew Sweeney leads business development and account management for Abt’s portfolio of work at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). With more than 20 years of healthcare experience partnering with federal agencies, small businesses, and the private sector, Sweeney has led large research and operational projects focused on various dimensions of alternative payment models, including:  implementing and validating quality measures, program support for hospital pay-for-performance programs, and advising clients on the design and refinement of their value-based purchasing arrangements.

Dr. Rebecca McGill-Wilkinson is an education researcher with two decades of experience designing and implementing evaluation and research projects. She has extensive expertise in a broad range of impact and implementation evaluation approaches, including quasi-experimental designs, randomized control trials, survey design and analysis methods, systematic evidence reviews, and measure development. Her work includes evaluations of federal education policies, including the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA). With a background in developmental psychology, she has contributed to systematic evidence reviews for both the Administration of Children and Families and the U.S. Department of Education. McGill-Wilkinson is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on a range of topics and has delivered over 40 conference presentations and invited talks in academic and practice settings and is a prolific blog author.

Benny Kil is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and a certified scrum master (CSM) with over 15 years of project and product management experience—working in business analysis and project delivery in the federal, state, and commercial areas with a focus on technology and digital processes. He has experience in leading multidisciplinary teams to deliver client requirements using agile methodologies (scrum and kanban). 

Dr. Fiona Mactaggart is a multi-disciplinary technical advisor with more than 10 years of experience in monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL); infectious disease control; and public health. As a co-lead of Abt's MERL portfolio, she draws on complexity theory and scientific methods to help clients test what works, discover why it works, and provide timely evidence-based recommendations to inform important decisions about policy and practice. Mactaggart contributes to business development, programme delivery, and thought leadership. She works in five key areas: monitoring (e.g., design of digital tools and visualisation platforms) research (e.g., cross-sectional survey design), evaluation methodologies (e.g., contribution analysis), learning (e.g., portfolio level evidence-informed strategic decision making), and cross-cutting MERL capabilities (e.g., adaptive management and GEDSI). Mactaggart has worked extensively in the Pacific and Southeast Asia.