Meet Our Team

As founder and president of ORS, Jane guides the company's strategic direction and promotes a client-focused, participatory and comfortable work environment. The former professor of Sociology has vast experience in the evaluation of human service, public health and community development programs, particularly in the areas of children and families, early childhood and the environment. In recent years, much of her focus has been evaluation of system initiatives and advocacy policy change. As a consultant, she facilitates the development of outcome-based strategic plans and evaluation systems for foundations, the public sector, non-profit organizations, and system initiatives or public private partnerships.

Jane also develops coaching and training materials in outcome-based planning and evaluation, including theory of change, logic models, evaluation designs, data collection systems and use of evaluation data for strengthening programs. She has earned a national reputation for her specialized expertise in the development of evaluation designs for measuring community and system level change and building capacity, and evaluating advocacy and policy efforts.

Jane's clients appreciate her depth of experience in the field and the clarity and focus she lends to their ambitious efforts. Her approach to evaluation is participatory, emphasizing the use of evaluation as a management practice to strengthen programs and strategic directions. Rather than produce bound reports that collect dust on a shelf, Jane delivers evaluations, tools and date summaries that result in achievable best practices.

One of the primary authors of the publication "Outcomes for Success!" and "A Guide to Measuring Advocacy and Policy", Jane earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Oregon and later was a faculty member at Ohio State University and Pacific Lutheran University. She was honored by colleagues in 2001, winning the "Best Sociological Practice Award" from the Society of Applied Sociologists.

Jane unwinds by practicing yoga. She is an enthusiastic traveler, whether basking in the tropical sun or soaking up history and culture in Italy, Greece, or Israel. Jane lives in Bellevue with her husband, son, their imposter golden retriever, and a fluffy little dog. Her oldest child is beginning her life adventure at Claremont McKenna College in California.

Jenn comes to ORS with a strong foundation of work promoting positive youth development. Jenn received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Indiana University, Bloomington, where she focused on child and adolescent psychology and researched neighborhood influences on parenting and youth behavior. As a post doctoral fellow at the University of Pittsburgh and a research scientist at the University of Washington, she honed her skills in the analysis of complex data sets and published widely on the influence of families, communities, and culture on youth development. Jenn left academia to do evaluation research at Casey Family Programs (CFP), where she served as the lead evaluator for the Powerful Families program, a family-strengthening program for low-income families comprised of three 9-week curricula aimed at increasing parents' financial literacy, advocacy, and leadership skills and behaviors. Jenn also worked with a wide range of stakeholders to design and implement a process evaluation of the multi-agency collaborations aimed at improving services for kinship families and youth transitioning out of the foster care system in which CFP's regional field offices are engaged.

Jenn lives in Columbia City with her husband, two young boys, and cat. An immigrant from New Jersey, Jenn is completely enamored of the Pacific Northwest and hopes to resume snowboarding and hiking more than a mile when the boys grow up a bit. In the mean time she enjoys the region through eating local food and drink with friends.

Joelle joined the ORS team in 2009 after receiving a Master in Public Administration degree from the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Affairs. She received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Iowa, with a major in Political Science and a minor in Statistics. Joelle brings a strong research background to ORS, having worked as a Research Assistant for two years while at the Evans School. During this time, Joelle contributed to research on higher education policy, and international agricultural policy.

As part of her Evans School program, Joelle worked with the U.S. Peace Corps as an NGO Advisor and Community Health Extension Worker in Sotouboua, Togo. During her two years in Sotouboua, Joelle led a small association of people living with HIV/AIDS through the strategic planning process. She also created and carried out the organization's needs assessment survey. Prior to joining Peace Corps and finishing her masters, Joelle did immigration casework for an Iowa Senator and a Washington Congressman. She also worked as an Outreach Assistant for the University of Iowa International Programs.

Growing up in Iowa, Joelle has always been an explorer. In addition to living in Togo, she has traveled Europe, studied in Wales, and worked on an archaeological dig in the Netherlands. She also enjoys exploring rural areas of the United States. Working with ORS is a great fit for Joelle because the diverse clientele-from librarians in Iowa to leaders in international development-allows her to explore new fields and constantly learn new things.

Anne's experience in evaluation design, data collection and qualitative and quantitative analysis make her a dynamic and effective evaluation coach whether she's facilitating outcome-based strategic planning or conducting trainings on program evaluation. Clients appreciate her knack for demystifying the evaluation process and helping them see its relevance. Anne has helped guide theory of change development and evaluation design for several organizations and partnerships. Additionally, Anne has helped develop coaching and training materials in outcomes-based planning and evaluation including theory of change, use of data for strengthening programs, evaluation of influence and leverage outcomes, and evaluation of advocacy and policy change efforts.

With a keen sensitivity to the purposes of evaluation and the contexts in which organizations do their work, Anne is able to guide programs selection of effective data collection approaches that are both respectful and practical. One of Anne's current projects is an evaluation of an early childhood home visiting program serving low-income refugee and immigrant families.

Anne has helped guide dozens of community-based programs to develop capacity on their outcome-measurement systems and improve their sustainability. Prior to joining ORS in 1999, Anne managed a statewide evaluation of teen pregnancy prevention programs funded by the Washington State Department of Health.

Anne has extensive experience in the arenas of children and family services, early care and education, youth development and community development. Anne holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. In her spare time, the Chicago native likes to hike, bike, swim, ski, cook or read aloud to her two daughters.

Kasey's diverse background working for a direct service provider, national non-profit group, and federal and county agencies help her relate to clients and empathize with their unique challenges and perspectives.  Her coaching philosophy is to meet clients "where they are," resulting in empowered clients who can produce, understand and use reliable outcomes data about the changes their programs create for individuals and families.

Kasey holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley.  She thrives on her work at ORS because the firm's philosophy and methods keep her close to the direct service providers, children and families who benefit from the positive changes achieved by clients.

The Colorado Springs native previously worked with Spanish-speaking immigrants in rural Iowa as a VISTA volunteer and served on the Labor and Human Resources Committee staff of Senator Edward M. Kennedy.  An avid telemark skier, backpacker and kayaker, she has also racked up thousands of miles in her world travels -including visits to South America and South Africa.  More recently however, Kasey has been sticking closer to home and lives in West Seattle with her and husband and two young children.

Janette brings to ORS a strong foundation in program development and evaluation. Her approach to evaluation is to focus on the utility and practicality of the data collected in improving the program and the field of work. Her experiences as a program evaluator expand different discipline areas, such science education, vocational education and social services. Past and current program evaluations include: web-based science education materials, the implementation of web-based instruction at vocational schools in Finland and the impact of a state-wide reading readiness initiative on parents' behaviors and knowledge.

She has also been involved in coaching community-based grants that involve ongoing evaluation capacity building. She has overseen, designed, and implemented a multi-year evaluation to determine the impact of a promising professional development/coaching model in afterschool's staff, program, and children.

Her experiences, prior to her work at ORS included the synthesis of 10 years of data results and turning these into a "how-to" guide that represented the lessons learned in expanding inquiry-based science education in the community. This work was immediately adopted by the National Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform Center for use in its Strategic Planning Institutes across the United States. The California Science Teachers Association requested permission to reprint the resulting guide in their statewide journal. Janette holds a B.A. in Psychology, a M.S. in Educational Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction. She lives with her husband and two kids. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, reading, gardening and spending time with her family.

Steve joined ORS as a Consultant in 2008. He lends his passion for participatory evaluation to a wide variety of projects, including an evaluation of a nationwide advocacy training for librarians organized by the Public Library Association and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; an evaluation of Seattle's Parent Child Home Program sponsored by the Business Partnership for Early Learning; and the development of a rigorous evaluation to move the "Play & Learn" model towards an Evidence-Based Practice. When he is not busy working, Steve can usually be found at his favorite spot in Seattle, Alki Beach – running, kayaking, or dreaming up a vacation to a far corner of the world.

Steve received his Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) from the University of Washington's Evans School, where he completed extensive coursework in quantitative analysis, management, program evaluation, and international development. He also participated in the Masters International program, serving as a Peace Corps NGO Advisor in Togo, West Africa to complement his studies with hands-on development experience in a rural African village. He designed and managed several projects in Togo, including HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment campaigns and a series of capacity-building workshops that introduced the strategic planning process to local NGO staff. Upon returning to the States in August 2007, Steve worked at enterpriseSeattle, supporting the public-private partnership's efforts to conduct an economic impact study of the emergent medical device industry in Washington State.

Emilee is a strong believer in using evaluation that is relevant, practical, and user-friendly to inform and strengthen programs. For this reason, she is excited about joining ORS where she will assist in building the capacity of organizations and systems for outcome-based planning and evaluation.

Emilee brings with her a range of programmatic and research experience in the fields of health and social services. She has previously worked with various nonprofit organizations, including a chapter of the American Red Cross where she managed youth health and safety programs, as well as community-based organizations serving homeless adults and people living with serious mental illnesses. Prior to coming on board at ORS, Emilee coordinated HIV-related services in Botswana as a US Peace Corps Volunteer strengthening the capacity of the local community for evidence-based planning and implementation of activities that addressed identified needs. She is also an alumna of Public Allies, an AmeriCorps-affiliated non-profit and community leadership apprenticeship program. Emilee earned a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she focused on building competencies in applied research, program evaluation and needs assessment.

Emilee hails from the Pacific Northwest and is happy to be back in the area after living elsewhere from 1998 until 2008. She enjoys exploring all the natural beauty and outdoor activities that her re-claimed home has to offer and can often be found reading with a good cup of coffee or running her favorite routes around town.

Heidi joined ORS in February 2009 in our Administration department and has quickly become a "go to" person for helping with contracts, invoices and other business procedures. She has strong history of working closely with others and providing the best service possible. Co-workers and clients can count on Heidi's organizational skills and "do what it takes" attitude to help ORS operate smoothly.

Heidi received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Washington. Heidi has a deep passion for the environment, and she believes in making this world a better place for everyone whether it comes to protecting animal species or advocating for the well-being of indigenous populations. When not working, Heidi can be found enjoying the Pacific Northwest or traveling the world. An avid outdoor enthusiast, Heidi enjoys any and every outdoor activity and looks forward to weekend adventures with her family and friends. In 2006, she traveled to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and studied the pristine Alaskan environment. In 2008, she traveled to Ecuador and combined her love of the outdoors and the environment by backpacking throughout the country, river rafting and exploring the rain forest. She also particularly enjoys being an aunt to her niece, Riley.

Known around the office as the "book lady," Shelley's primary responsibility is to promote ORS publications, such as "Outcomes for Success!," an introductory training guide to Outcome-based evaluation. Shelley is in her element when she's talking to customers over the telephone or showcasing ORS publications at professional events, such as the American Evaluation Association annual conference. She wears many hats at ORS, juggling such diverse tasks as planning office events, conducting key informant interviews and obtaining survey results back from clients.

Shelley holds a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and did graduate work at UCLA. In her former life, she taught English and Spanish before taking time out for motherhood. When she's not traveling, biking or hiking, Shelley enjoys time at home with her husband, two daughters, and the family horse and dog.

Jim has worked in various capacities with ORS since 2001. From pitching in to move our office (twice) to helping design many of the internal systems, he's available to fill in where needed and is at his best when doing a variety of tasks.

Although his degree is in Management Information Systems, by nature Jim is equally left-brain/right-brain wired which allows him to be linear in thinking when needed as well as very creative. He is well-versed in many areas including web development, graphic design, desktop publishing, systems analysis, programming, bookkeeping, training/technical manual writing, training, office management and administration to name a few.

He brings perspective from many different industries including insurance, utilities, finance, legal, construction, real estate and consulting. "I love working with smart people."