About Me

I have been a faculty member in the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy at Wake Forest School of Medicine since 2003, and served as department chair from 2005-2015. I also serve as Director of Evaluation for Wake Forest’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI).

My research focuses on designing, implementing and evaluating interventions to improve health and well-being, especially interventions involving collaborative problem-solving and community development. I focus particularly on the strategies of philanthropic foundations. In 2016, I conducted a study for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation which mapped the various strategies that 33 health conversion foundations have used to address the social determinants of health.

I have published over 70 articles that cover various aspects of philanthropy, evaluation and community change. My articles in Foundation Review and Stanford Social Innovation Review have provided the foundation field with tools, frameworks and evaluation findings that support the design and implementation of effective strategy. 

Over the past 20 years, I have served as an evaluator, strategic advisor, learning coach and facilitator for more than 30 national, state, and local foundations, including the Clinton Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Colorado Health Foundation, Kate. B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, and Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. I have worked extensively with community foundations seeking to build social capital and to develop new community leaders. Between 2006-2011 I facilitated the National Social Capital Learning Circle.