Meet the Team: Elle Ford

Our Meet the Team blog series gives you a glimpse into our team members' approach to working with our partners to achieve better results for communities. Today we’re getting to know our research consultant, Elle Ford.  

Me and my fiancé, luke, being goofballs

How would you describe your role?

 If someone is not familiar with our work I would say evaluation and learning is a field that helps folks see if what they are doing is working and areas they can grow. It’s asking what are the unintended and intended impacts to explore and learn from. We do as much in our everyday lives. We check to see if the savings plan we put in place to finally buy a car is working. If not, where can I save money, reassess? I help folks in different fields, nonprofits, and foundations look and see how they can improve and better support the communities they are serving. 

What experience do you bring to your work at Engage?

I bring experience as an evaluator. I created an evaluation for a small nonprofit and then was hired to execute it. I’ve done a lot of qualitative and quantitative research. And my background is in public health, where I worked in a lot of leadership and project management roles. Having several different jobs in different fields I bring a range of skills.

For example, I was a competitive gymnastics coach for a decade which really taught me patience above all else and how to manage multiple tasks and experience levels, as well as how to shift seamlessly from one mindset and project to another. I also learned how to be gentle, motivating, and kind with words and staying positive when things get stressful, which is inevitable. 

I was also a phlebotomist where I saw two different extremes, newborn infants and geriatric patients. Learning how to care for both and their unique needs, understanding commonalities and differences has parallels when working with multiple audiences. Making the process normal, listening to folks and really hearing their needs, their experiences, their hesitations, it all floods into this work. Listening to clients and what brought them to now, and then crafting an evaluation and creating learning moments, comes from that listening, learning, and healing. 

 And finally, I bring my personal background as a Black and Indigenous woman. All these different factors play into how I view the work and how I connect with people, which is a big part of it. 

Can you share something that motivates you?

 A lot motivates me in different ways. Sometimes it’s the most basic things, such as having a team that trusts you, delegates work to you, and lets you be creative. The team already knows I am very motivated by words of affirmation. And at a high abstract level, I have always wanted to make the world a better place. No matter how big, far, close, or removed, I’ve wanted to be doing something to improve the lives of other people. Having those moments where you see the progress is so motivating. And all the work in between: working with clients with strong values, working on projects that are striving to achieve equity, learning alongside them – all of it is a really big motivator for me as well. 

What do you love about your job?

The structure at Engage. You get put on a project and you have an onus over it. If something comes up you can get support and take initiative. You play different roles, wear different hats. Not just answering emails, not just analyzing data, not just writing reports, you get to do all of it. I love the variety and using all my different brain muscles. 

How are you taking care of yourself these days? 

I definitely am a person that gets a lot of happiness and joy from cleaning. And spring cleaning is underway! Also, my fiancé and I are hobbyists and love the outdoors, gardening, welding, making furniture, woodworking, cooking outside are  all things we love to do. Laughing every day is a big one for me. My ancestors have always said laughter is good medicine, and that is very true for me.