Our Team

Harlan leads and contributes to many projects in evaluation and software development. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep his clients and staff happy and prides himself on making the impossible possible.

Harlan received his master’s degree in evaluation studies with a focus on quantitative methods from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor's degree in educational policy and educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin.

Julie oversees PDA’s evaluation division and takes a lead role on tobacco cessation evaluations. She is also PDA’s HIPAA compliance officer and leads data privacy efforts.

Julie holds a bachelor of arts with majors in sociology and philosophy from Saint Mary’s University in Minnesota.

Becky leads analyses for evaluation and research clients, providing expertise in quantitative analysis and survey methodology. She manages PDA’s team of analysts and has been on our team since 2008.

Becky has a master of public health degree in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s degree in physics from Carleton College.

Joining PDA in 2011, Melissa contributes to the leadership of the evaluation division by managing projects and teams and supporting our business development efforts. Melissa is responsible for planning and implementing several large scale, multi-component projects.

Melissa holds a doctorate in psychological and quantitative foundations with an emphasis in evaluation from the University of Iowa.

Amy designs, implements, and leads multiple public health evaluation projects. She oversees staff evaluators and manages the broader direction and activities of the evaluation division.

Amy has her doctorate in social psychology with fellowship training in evaluation from Loyola University Chicago.

Kelly keeps the business humming, using her skills in human resources, operations, and a variety of special projects.

Kelly holds a master’s in business administration and a bachelor of science in business with a major in human resources and industrial relations, both from the University of Minnesota.

Vince works with stakeholders to understand their business needs and writes clear specifications for new features. He guides the software development team in planning and building software updates following his and team-members’ specifications.

Vince holds a bachelor of business administration in management information systems from the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Sara uses her advanced statistical programming skills in SAS to support a wide variety of evaluation and health care research projects through data cleaning, statistical analysis, and manuscript writing.

Sara earned her master’s degree in statistics from the University of Minnesota and her bachelor’s in mathematics and economics from St. Olaf College.

Steve is involved in all aspects of software architecture and development. He’s skilled in effective automated testing, continuous integration, and continuous delivery.

Steve holds a bachelor of arts in information systems/computer science from Calvin College.

Joining PDA in 2007, Emily leads multiple large-scale evaluation projects. She adeptly manages projects and is a master at conveying complex information in a clear and friendly way. With a passion for accessibility and use, Emily rolls out innovative strategies for data collection, stakeholder engagement, and dissemination of findings.

Emily has a master’s degree in organizational leadership, policy and development (evaluation studies) with a minor in quantitative methods in education, and a bachelor of arts degree in psychology with a management minor, both from the University of Minnesota.

Andy contributes to the design and implementation of PDA’s software projects through technical leadership, architecture planning, and software craftsmanship. Andy is a full stack developer with primary strengths in .NET MVC applications.

Angie’s main role is managing the evaluation of a community grants initiative in Hawai‘i that provides in-person tobacco cessation counseling to priority populations. She also leads our data visualization efforts by inspiring, training, and creating tools for her colleagues.

Angie holds a master’s in public health (community health education) from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s in psychology from Minnesota State University Moorhead.

Jennifer evaluates statewide health promotion initiatives with a focus on early childhood obesity prevention and active transportation. She helps clients clarify their goals and ask the right questions to better understand their impact.

Jennifer holds a doctorate in social and behavioral epidemiology and a master of public health in community health promotion, both from the University of Minnesota.

With prior experience working on chronic disease-focused public health programs, Renée works with PDA clients to evaluate activities related to diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. She is as passionate about public health programs as she is evaluation. Renée strives to find practical ways to make evaluation data useful to people leading chronic disease programs.

Renée holds doctoral and master of public health degrees in environmental health sciences (with a focus on epidemiology) from the University of Minnesota.

Kate contributes to multiple statewide public health initiatives at PDA. She strives to build evaluation capacity within organizations by working with stakeholders to create meaningful questions and help them use evaluation processes and findings. She enjoys developing research designs to effectively address stakeholders’ questions.

Kate holds doctorate in applied developmental psychology with an emphasis in program evaluation from Claremont Graduate University.

Since joining PDA in 2015, Heather has supported multiple evaluations of statewide public health programs. She has experience in tobacco cessation, chronic disease prevention and management, systems change, behavioral health, and social services, with a special interest in programs that promote equity.

Heather has a master of arts degree in evaluation studies from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor of arts degree in psychology with a Spanish minor from Taylor University.

Alyce manages PDA’s survey instruments and protocol across a variety of projects, as well as contributing to other aspects of several evaluations. She is focused on getting the details exactly right so that overarching themes and evaluation findings can emerge.

Alyce holds a master’s degree in human rights, focused on research and evaluation methods, from the University of Minnesota, as well as a bachelor’s degree in political science and mathematics/statistics from Grinnell College.

Ellen is involved in evaluating several statewide public health initiatives at PDA. She is especially interested in mixed methods and in leveraging principles of utilization-focused evaluation to provide actionable insights to clients.

Ellen earned her master of public health, specializing in health metrics and evaluation, from The University of Washington and her bachelor of arts in biology and environmental studies from St. Olaf College.

Mitch helps design and write software that supports our clients’ goals. He is a full stack developer with expertise in Microsoft technologies.

Mitch has a bachelor of science degree in computer science from North Dakota State University

Sam conducts data processing, sampling, and quantitative analysis for evaluation and research projects at PDA.

Sam earned her master of public health (epidemiology) degree with a minor in biostatistics from the University of Minnesota. Her bachelor’s degree is in Spanish culture and literature with a minor in community health education from the University of St. Thomas.

Kate contributes to evaluating a variety of public health programs, mostly focused on tobacco cessation. Her evaluation interests include mixed methods approaches, theories of change, and data visualization.

Kate earned her master of public health in epidemiology at the Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health and her bachelor of arts in psychology at the University of New Hampshire.

Audrey assists with multiple evaluation projects and completes telephone surveys for one of our evaluation clients. Audrey is eager to learn and help, diving in on any task that needs to be done.

Audrey has a master of public health in maternal and child health with a minor in program evaluation from the University of Minnesota. She also holds a bachelor of arts in international studies from the University of Wisconsin, Madison with a minor in global health.

Liz is excited to bring her government and nonprofit background to support the impactful and fascinating work of PDA's clients. She is passionate about centering equity, systems-level approaches, creating meaning out of data, and utilization-focused evaluation.

Liz has a master of public administration with an emphasis on policy analysis and evaluation from the University of Washington - Seattle.

Weijia is involved in the evaluation of tobacco cessation media campaigns in Hawai’i. With her expertise in research methods and media effects, Weijia contributes to survey development and makes sure to ask the right questions to better evaluate the effectiveness of media messages.

Weijia is currently pursuing a doctorate in mass communication at the University of Minnesota. She also holds a master's in mass communication and a bachelor of science in biotechnology.

Chris works as a full stack developer helping to create software that fulfills PDA’s clients’ requirements. Chris has a background in automated testing and a focus on delivering quality.

Chris has a bachelor of science in management information systems from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Sydney supports the evaluation of statewide health promotion initiatives pertaining to chronic disease prevention, especially among individuals with disabilities. She is eager to learn and utilize data to advance health equity.

Sydney has a master of public policy and is currently pursuing a master of public health, both from the University of Minnesota. A North Carolina native, Sydney also holds a bachelor of science in cell/molecular biology from Appalachian State University.

Lily assists with data cleaning, processing, and analysis for evaluation and statistics projects at PDA.

Lily holds a bachelor of science in psychology and a bachelor of arts in computer science from the University of Minnesota.

Heidi is responsible for all things accounting, from receivables and payables to staff payroll and financial reporting. In addition, Heidi handles benefit administration and ensures the office runs smoothly. We would all be lost without Heidi.

Heidi has an associate’s degree in accounting.

Jake supports, monitors, and manages all aspects of PDA’s IT infrastructure.

Jake has an associate's degree from Minnesota State and numerous IT certificates.

Polly has managed the day-to-day survey responsibilities for our Florida and Oklahoma projects since joining PDA in August 2012. Additionally, she facilitates work with our Hawai‘i and Florida contractors. Polly has the gift of gab and excels at getting survey respondents to open up to her.

Mary completes telephone surveys to support evaluation projects in Florida and Oklahoma. She enjoys working directly with the community to improve health and brings a friendly, enthusiastic attitude to PDA.

Mary holds a bachelor of science in kinesiology and health from Iowa State University.

Chloe provides stress relief to anyone who wants to pet her. She is known for her extra soft fur and calm demeanor. She is happiest when she's sleeping near her mom's feet.

Rig joined PDA as a puppy in 2016. She provides tail wags, licks, and emotional support to the evaluation team.

Rig is a puppy training school dropout (the instructor made mom cry!), but she is self-taught in sit, stay, down, and shake.