Giannina partners with foundations, nonprofits, and public agencies to facilitate learning and translate it into action and strategy. She has a strong passion for helping organizations build their capacity to apply informed strategies and practices to their work. Giannina strives to effectively engage clients and their community partners, helping them understand how to use data, research, and community wisdom as tools to support the development of stronger and more equitable communities.
Giannina has over 15 years of mixed methods evaluation and community-based research experience, with a focus on social justice issues. Her work has spanned multiple issue areas, including early childhood education, higher education, health, workforce development, housing, poverty, and violence against women and children. As a community psychologist, Giannina uses an ecological and systems perspective to examine the root causes and interconnectedness of various social issues. This orientation and experience working across various sectors has helped her develop innovative approaches in research, learning, community engagement, and strategy development. In the years prior to joining Engage R+D, Giannina worked in a variety of research and consulting positions in the nonprofit sector, academia, government, and private sector. She has published numerous research articles in peer reviewed journals such as Foundation Review, American Journal of Evaluation, American Journal of Community Psychology, and Law and Society Review.
At Engage R+D, Giannina is applying her technical expertise to support complex, systems or community-based innovations while using culturally and developmentally appropriate methods to engage diverse stakeholders. Some of her current clients include the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and The California Endowment. Giannina is fluent in Spanish.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, Community Psychology, Michigan State University
Master of Arts, Psychological Research, California State University, Long Beach
Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, California State University, Long Beach
Featured Work
