UNIVERSITY

PARK, Pa. — The Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn

State will host two postdoctoral researchers from the second cohort of

the Annie E. Casey Foundation 2018 Leader Equitable Evaluation and

Diversity (LEEAD) program.

The LEEAD program, launched by the Casey Foundation in 2016, was

created to expand diversity in the field of prevention research. Twenty

scholars will participate in the year-long program consisting of

coursework, a mentorship and residency at a research organization.

“This is an opportunity to help scholars further their careers and

research abilities,” said Sarah Chilenski, senior research associate at

the center. “This program gives them legitimate experience in research

and evaluation and holds a lot of potential and promise.”

The scholars will provide evaluation support to two flagship programs

at the center: Evidence2Success, which Chilenski leads; and the Tribal

REDI program, led by Janet Walsh.

Only evaluation organizations of high esteem are selected to host

scholars. Organizations that hosted the first cohort of 15 mid-career

scholars included the American Institutes for Research, Child Trends,

Harder & Company, Mathematica, ORS Impact, RAND Corporation, the

University of Memphis and the Urban Institute.

The guidance that the scholars receive throughout LEEAD ensures that

scholars are well-prepared to immerse themselves in the field of

prevention science in a way that will successfully further not only

their careers, but the field in general. The goal of LEEAD is to promote

the business of evaluation sciences in young, diverse researchers who

can truly make an impact.

LEEAD is a program of the Foundation’s “Expanding the Bench”

initiative, which focuses on race and ethnicity equity and inclusion.

For more information about the program, visit http://www.aecf.org/work/research-and-policy/research-and-evaluation/leaders-in-equitable-evaluation-and-diversity-leead/.