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Natalie Matthews has over 15 years of experience in the field of homelessness, with a focus on direct service, system planning, database administration, and technical assistance and implementation (TA). Since joining Abt in 2009, Matthews has served in a variety of roles on its U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Compass TA cooperative agreements. She’s also worked on several locally and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)-funded TA projects, as well as research, monitoring and evaluation projects.  She served as the project director for the VA’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) monitoring project, served on the evaluation team for HUD’s first evaluation of rapid re-housing programs for families (2012), and led the evaluation of Hartford Connecticut’s homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing program (2014).

Diane Paulsell is an applied social scientist with more than 20 years of experience designing, conducting, and overseeing mixed-methods policy-focused research, including national multi-site studies. She has also led rapid cycle learning and program improvement efforts with a variety of human services programs and a foundation-funded research program on family supportive services. Her areas of expertise range from early care and education to parenting, family engagement, youth development and family supportive policies and programs, including nutrition.

René Nutter is an experienced leader with more than two decades of  history with developing and operating government contracts. She’s also worked with the private sector and foundational work with organizations such as Yale, Harvard, and the Gates Foundation.

Sarah Gibson is a project-management specialist with 23 years of experience in public policy research. She has more than 20 years of experience managing complex projects, implementing random assignment studies and researching and analyzing policy for clients such as the Social Security Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She is proficient in project management, including resource management, budgeting and quality control.

Elizabeth Giardino’s evaluation and technical assistance work on housing, community development, asset building, and government innovation policies and programs promotes opportunity and healthy outcomes for people across the U.S. Giardino specializes in leading teams, strategic planning, and relationship building, and has proven expertise in incorporating community-based participatory research into technical assistance engagements.

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.

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.

Hannah Betesh has over a decade of experience designing, managing, and conducting rigorous implementation and impact studies of interventions for low-income workers and families, including programs that address substance use disorder. Betesh’s methodological expertise is in measuring and documenting program implementation to support adoption of evidence-based practices. Her federal clients have included the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

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.

The AgResults initiative was created by five donors after the 2010 G20 summit. The donors recognized that their resources alone could not significantly reduce poverty in the world’s poorest countries. They created AgResults to test whether pay-for…