Heather Allan, MSW, is a learning assessment specialist at CWTS, where her role is to develop and implement a comprehensive evaluation plan. In conjunction with the larger training system and its stakeholders, she is developing a plan that will assess everything from individual learner satisfaction with the courses they take to learner needs and how they are being met by CWTS—and all the way to outcomes for the children, youth, and families that we serve.

Heather received a BA in psychology and politics from New York University and her MSW from the University of Denver. She has worked at Kempe since 2012 as the evaluation project manager for multiple federal grants examining the effectiveness of family meetings in improving outcomes for children, youth, and families in various child welfare systems across the country. She has also worked as the project manager and senior evaluation specialist for a child maltreatment prevention pilot evaluation here in Colorado, managing data collection and quality assurance processes and serving as the technical assistance point person for all twenty-one sites throughout the state. She enjoys helping the people she works with to design evaluations that gather the data that answer their questions and translating complex evaluation findings into meaningful conclusions and practice recommendations.

Heather moved out west to ski and, with two small kids, is just getting her skis back underneath her after a few years’ hiatus. Year round, you can find her outside more often than not or curled up with a good book in her few moments of indoor peace and quiet.