Melanie Gonzalez

About Melanie Gonzalez

Melanie Gonzalez, MA has a range of work experiences focused on increasing access to resources, improving quality of life outcomes, and building power and influence of marginalized and oppressed communities. She has worked to address community needs for over 6 years through direct service and support, partnership and coalition building, anti-racist community education and organizing, program evaluation, research, and organization development. She is most passionate about supporting young people to access and utilize their power through storytelling and leadership development, teaching them how to use their stories and power to create change within their community. Melanie obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from Union College with a double major in Psychology and English and a Master of Arts from the University of New Haven in Community Psychology with a Concentration in Program Development. She has also received training in Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR), Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR), Results Based Accountability (RBA), Undoing Racism, health equity, social determinants of health, and youth-led community organizing.

Experience

1. Evaluation Specialist

   RISE Network

   Feb 2022 — Present · New Haven, CT, US

   Engage with colleagues across RISE to understand their program evaluation and data analysis needs for driving continued learning and improvement. Design and implement program evaluation systems to collect, analyze, and report on the progress of RISE-supported strategies. Evaluate the impact and monitor implementation of programmatic activities designed to strengthen the middle to high school transition and increase postsecondary readiness, access, and success. Partner with other members of the RISE team to share findings and generate new insights to inform program design and student support. Use longitudinal data to help RISE staff and partners better understand trends over time, with a focus on identifying and addressing equity gaps in pursuit of RISE Network goals and strategies. Collaborate with the RISE Educator & Community Engagement Team to inform educator professional development and disseminate findings and lessons in service of cross-network learning and knowledge-sharing. Provide strategic input and direction for continued evolution of RISE’s program evaluation systems and processes. Support efforts to build out evaluation frameworks and systems aligned to RISE’s theory of change. Design and refine survey instruments and coordinate survey distribution to educators and students to facilitate data collection in partnership with the RISE program and data teams. Build and maintain systems for tracking implementation data for RISE’s shared network strategies in the areas of Grade 9 and postsecondary success. Conduct survey analyses and create reports on survey results to inform educator coaching and student support. Coordinate use of the survey platform and analytics tools across the organization, promoting best practices for survey design, implementation and analysis and identifying opportunities for improvement or enhancement to existing tools and platforms. Ensure data collection systems and procedures adhere to the standards of data security.

Education

• University of New Haven

  Master's Degree, Community Psychology

  2014 — 2016

• Union College

  Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Psychology & English, 3.2

  2006 — 2013