Tell us about yourself and your current role.
Hi all! My name is Cheralynn Corsack and I am originally from beautiful, rural New Hampshire. I got my start in evaluation while working at a breastfeeding resource center in Florida while in undergrad. We needed data for a grant and so I jumped in, developing a survey and asking mothers about their experience at the resource center. I graduated from the MCAH program in 2019, worked at a small consulting firm in Oakland for a few years, and now live in Atlanta working as an independent evaluation and strategy consultant. In this role, I work with foundations, nonprofits, and other organizations to measure what matters and make data-informed decisions. I specialize in quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis that centers peoples’ experiences, giving data back to those who provided it, and facilitating conversations to empower people to contextualize, understand, and use their data to take action. I always use easy-to-understand language and craft deliverables around how the audience will best be able to engage with it. There are two main aspects of my work 1) evaluation and strategy, and 2) something I call “data coaching,” also known as evaluation capacity building. In my evaluation and strategy work, I help organizations use data to continuously improve programming, show their impact, and take action based on findings. In my data coaching work, over multiple sessions, I help organizations work through challenges, identifying strategies and developing evaluation and data skills.
In what ways is your work connected to MCAH?
My work is connected to MCAH through my clients. I work with a variety of programs, from ones focused in MCAH areas specifically to rural health, reentry after incarceration, mental and behavioral health, and substance use. Either directly or indirectly, I feel that my work is supporting parents and youth. One project I worked on for over three years was with a program in San Francisco supporting pregnant and parenting families experiencing substance use disorder. My colleagues and I helped them to measure progress on their program’s outcomes, set up a data system to simplify and streamline case management, and share their stories of success and challenges.
In what ways did your experience as an MCAH student at UC Berkeley prepare you for this role?
My experience as an MCAH student prepared me for this type of work in both hard and soft skills. Coding and quantitative data analysis was one of the biggest skills that helped me to excel as an evaluator. Additionally, the practicum I did with Mara Decker at UCSF taught me qualitative coding and analysis. Both of those skills are critical to telling the stories of those I work with and help organizations make data-based decisions as they continuously improve their programming. A softer skill learned while at Cal, was networking and getting to know others and their work. I actually didn’t use this skill much while at the consulting firm in Oakland. However, now that I work for myself, I took those initial learnings from the MCAH program and amplified them by practicing and learning more how to be in spaces I am uncomfortable and talking to individuals I don’t know. Now, I use it all the time to build relationships with folks are doing amazing work and immerse myself in the evaluator community in Atlanta and beyond.
What advice would you give to students who are currently in the MCAH field and who are interested in doing work similar to you?
Start working! My data collection and evaluation experience prior to MCAH, the MCAH practicum (that turned into year-long work), and my almost 4-year consulting job allowed me to hone in on my skills as an evaluator, gain the confidence and skills to now work for myself, and identify topics that get me excited. For example, even though I am from rural New Hampshire, rural work never caught my eye until I started working on a rural community building project in Oregon. I connected with folks and saw similarities in their lives to my own. Now, working with folks in rural areas to help them build health, community, and economic opportunities is one of the topic areas that most excites me.
Interested in connecting with Cheralynn?