About

Julie Poncelet, Ph.D.

Founder and Monitoring, Evaluation, and Strategic Learning Specialist

I was born in Belgium, raised in Canada, and immigrated to the USA for love!

Growing up, I was enamored by cities and fascinated by urban settlements. You can only imagine how excited I was to learn I could specialize in planning cities. I worked as a city planner for several years. And while I enjoyed my work, I was disillusioned by the lack of community engagement, especially with young people, whom decision-makers perceived as incapable of contributing to their community’s development.

I decided to pursue a Ph.D. in the study of the built environment to fulfill my intersecting and interdisciplinary interests in community and youth development and study transformative youth programs.

I loved the research but decided academia was not for me. It was serendipitous that I found evaluation research, and now I have the best job in the world! I combine my love of collaborating with communities and doing mixed-method research with an emphasis on participatory approaches to work in the service of social justice and equity.

I bring over 20 years of experience in evaluation and strategic planning across North America and internationally, focusing on children/youth, education, women, and community development.

I also love traveling and being outdoors, hiking, and kayaking.

Here is my CV and follow me on LinkedIn.

Danae Flores Aramburú, B.S., MPP, MPA

Senior Research Associate

Born in Chile, my lifelong passion for community development through programs and policy implementation has shaped my career path. From an early age, I was drawn to the importance of social justice and equity, with a deep interest in how social programs and policies shape the living conditions of many and set the ground rule for opportunities or inequities. I have engaged in social community service for years, working to implement projects that improve the living conditions of those in need. This commitment transitioned into my academic pursuits as I studied B.S. Business Administration with a Master of Economics and Public Policy, and later, looking to get a global perspective on impactful social policies, I completed a Master of Public Administration at Columbia University.

Believing fervently in the power of public policy and programs to transform lives, I have dedicated myself to managing, implementing, and developing programs with evaluation and monitoring at the heart of their design. I’ve worked with different organizations (local
governments, CBOs, nonprofits), allowing me to apply my expertise in mixed-method research, participatory approaches, and my keen interest in data analysis and management to support organizations to learn and improve with a DEIB lens.

Beyond my professional endeavors, I am an avid traveler, appreciating learning from different cultures and countries, looking to engage in exciting conversations as we share a good wine!

Al Reynolds, DataCollect

Evaluation & Management Consultant

Raised in South Jamaica, Queens, Mr. Reynolds applies his lived experience to his work. He works with organizations that provide interventions to help support people and communities of color for education equity, social justice, and policymaking. Mr. Reynolds is an independent consultant (DBA DataCollect), who works with several community-based organizations, foundations, and institutions with program data collection, evaluation training and management services.

During his 18-year career, he has worked with several non-profit organizations. From 2014-2021, Mr. Reynolds was the Director of Neighborhood Initiatives at Literacy, Inc., where he was the liaison for 11 community-based literacy organizations that promote the importance of literacy by providing programs and services in NYC schools, libraries, and communities. As a collective, they serve the literacy needs of children and families in Brooklyn and Queens. The initiative aims to help ensure that children read at proficiency level by the third grade.

In 2022, he worked with Greenwich House as a consultant to help direct their new workforce effort's strategy, planning, and launch. The work included exploring proven and promising programming and partnership opportunities, as well as building upon existing Greenwich House programs, populations, talent, and resources.

Other past clients included evaluation work with Touro College, Equity Assistance Center, The United Methodist Society, and The Ford Foundation in developing tracking and data monitoring systems for their social justice and equity initiatives. Al Reynolds has a Bachelor of Arts from City College, The City University of New York.

Sarah Nehrling

Organizational Learning Consultant

I love learning! From learning how to navigate a new city, to learning how to lead collaborative processes, to learning how to learn. (I also love spinach, sunshine, and reusing things.)

I was born and raised in the US, then spent a decade living and working in francophone West Africa on international development teams. Convinced that we could all do better work and have greater impact if we improved the quality and frequency of our learning, I went back to school to prepare a pivot toward supporting teams with a learning lens.

I completed my Masters in Learning & Teaching at Harvard (HGSE), and then launched my organizational learning consulting as I started travelling the world. A few years later, I earned a Certificate in Organizational Coaching (UBC) and an ICF coaching certification.

I help clients and collaborators learn better so they can get better at doing good. I design and facilitate all types of events, I coach individuals and teams toward their goals, and I help teams to "sensemake", wrestling mountains of information into useable and valuable knowledge. I love getting a roomful of people with varying expertise and experience to share, reflect, learn, and boost their collective intelligence for improved action!

I'm still consulting and travelling, learning more and humbled nearly every day from the clients and collaborators I work with and the countries I live in.

You can learn more about my work by visiting my website and following me on LinkedIn .