Meet the Team: Jenn García
/Our Meet the Team blog series give 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 research consultant Jennifer García.
1. What is your role at Engage R+D?
As a Research Consultant at Engage R+D, I bring my skills in research, analysis, and writing to a wide range of projects, approaching the work through a social justice and racial equity lens. Because we work in a team-based structure, I get to play different roles depending on the project and client needs. Currently, I am working across a variety of topic areas including community-centered health, COVID-19 grantmaking, wage enforcement in low-wage industries, workforce training for dislocated youth, and pop culture for social change.
Also, I’m part of an internal workgroup that is focused on integrating equity principles into our company policies and practices. We are working to align our internal HR processes (hiring, review, promotion, etc.) with our broader organizational values related to equity.
2. What experience do you bring to this work?
My background is in public health and applied research. Before joining Engage R+D I worked as a community-health researcher with the Psychology Applied Research Center at Loyola Marymount University where I supported community-based evaluation projects and mentored undergrads. Prior to that, I taught public health courses at California State University, Dominguez Hills. Through these experiences, I developed a deep appreciation for participatory and collaborative approaches to research, evaluation, mentorship, and teaching. I approached all of these engagements as opportunities to advance social justice.
I am also a recent alumna of the Leaders in Equitable Evaluation and Diversity (LEEAD) program, a national network of scholars dedicated to infusing equitable practices within the field of evaluation. I am able to incorporate and build upon my training in culturally responsive and equitable evaluation theories and methods in my day-to-day work at Engage.
3. How have you seen evaluation and learning drive social change?
Previously, I was part of the evaluation team for a national capacity-building initiative to support community-based nonprofits engaged in grassroots community organizing and policy advocacy. In collaboration with community partners, we evaluated technical assistance trainings and their impact on organizational capacity and advancing health policy campaigns across multiple social justice content areas. I saw how learning and evaluation can support social change efforts in tangible ways. Community organizing can be siloed, making it difficult to track promising practices or innovative solutions in the field and share knowledge and resources across communities. I was excited to help design and carry out an evaluation that sought to learn from organizers about their local campaigns and support cross-learning with other communities. I learned from these community organizers how crucial data, research, and evaluation are to supporting their work on the ground and advancing social justice efforts more broadly.
4. What is happening in the field of evaluation/philanthropy that makes you hopeful?
I am hopeful that the momentum and energy around racial justice and racial equity, and the commitment to change, are real and lasting. There has been a shift in how we are thinking about equity internally at Engage, and more broadly in the field of evaluation. For example, we have been learning about how white dominant norms influence our work culture and evaluation practices. I’m encouraged that more folks are recognizing and calling out the harm from existing frameworks and systems, while also grappling with our complicity in maintaining inequitable power structures. My hope is that more voices continue to question the status quo and push for real change in our field.
5. How are you taking care of yourself these days?
Meditation keeps me grounded and helps me not get too overwhelmed by everything, work or otherwise. While I find breathing exercises and sitting meditations very helpful, I also use everyday activities as opportunities to practice being mindful. I try to bring a sense of openness and curiosity to mundane things, like making coffee or going for walks around my neighborhood, to help me be more aware and present. I’m also kind to myself if I struggle with these practices or forget to meditate! I think that’s a big part of taking care of myself, too.
