Stephanie Halbert Jones

Evaluator, Researcher and Nonprofit Professional

Stephanie Halbert Jones is an evaluator and researcher with particular skills in data analysis and visualization, mulitple methods of qualitative and quantitative data collection, and participatory strategies in evaluation practice. She has more than ten years of experience designing, managing and implementing complex evaluations, all with an explicit racial equity lens.

Ms. Halbert Jones holds an M.A. from Clark University, where she was graduated summa cum laude from its International Development and Social Change program, with a concentration in Monitoring and Evaluation. Her specific research interests include gender, race/ethnicity, labor rights, global equity and decolonizing practices, as well as fair and alternative models of economic development.

Professional Experience and Education

Project Director, Center for Assessment and Policy Development

November 2011 to Present

  • Co-Principal Investigator for a learning effort for Pathways to Freedom, a project of Humanity United, funded by NoVoFoundation and Omidyar Group. Pathways to Freedom’s goal is to spur innovative solutions to human trafficking challenges. In this work, Ms. Jones is looking at work supported in the three selected cities (Atlanta, Chicago and Minneapolis), across grantees including a Mayoral Fellow, worker’s centers, and sex trafficking survivor groups, with the goal of co-developing a set of recommendations and lessons for the field.

  • Lead author on Best & Promising Practices for Hispanic/Latino/a Inclusion in UMC Churches in North Carolina, a set of recommended practices for multiethnic inclusion in traditionally Anglo spaces. The project was completed as part of the evaluation of the Duke Divinity School’s Hispanic House of Studies, and their work to support thriving Latin ministry. Recommendations are culled from a targeted literature review across United Methodist, other faith-based, social justice, and corporate applied and academic literature.

  • Lead researcher for a Documentation and Learning project for Third Sector New England’s Inclusion Initiative. Implemented participatory and community-led methods to research the work of 10 anti-poverty cross-sector networks in New England. Presented learnings on Trauma- and Oppression- Informed practices and the Solidarity Economy.

  • Analyst on multi-year evaluations of the Thriving Rural Communities and Thriving Hispanic/Latino Communities Initiatives of the Duke Endowment and the Duke Divinity School. Major responsibility for the conduct and analysis of qualitative research, including in-depth interviews, surveys and site visits. As part of that evaluation, lead author on a compendium of best and promising practices for inclusion based on review of theological, social justice and business sources.

  • Co-director of CAPD’s evaluation work with Encore.org’s Gen2Gen campaign, an effort to expand the use of adults fifty and older in support of youth, via intergenerational strategies and shifts in narrative.

  • Co-director of a learning and documentation effort for an Equity Learning Partnership of 16 communities in Connecticut, funded by the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund.

  • Conducted qualitative data collection, analysis and helped write evaluation reports for the Berrie Fellows Leadership Program and other CAPD projects.

Communications and Research Specialist, Racial Equity Tools.org

January 2015 to October 2020

  • Racial Equity Tools.org (RET) supports people and groups who are working for inclusion, racial equity and social justice. The site includes ideas, strategies and tips written by the RET team, as well as a clearinghouse of resources and links from a broad range of sources.

  • Responsible for curating and updating racial equity resources and communicating with more than 6,000 RET members via monthly email newsletters and direct communication.

  • Developed and deployed methods for assessing the value of the site, promoting its reach, and grant-raising to support the ongoing work.

  • Conducted independent research on RET's users and impact to share with funders, stakeholders and community members.

  • In response to RET user requests, created a series of curated resources for particular groups and organizations. For example, created and shared collections on evaluation with an equity lens, resources for hiring and recruitment, and materials for a group of arts nonprofit professionals.

  • RET also hosts the curriculum Transforming White Privilege: A 21st Century Leadership Capacity. This curriculum is designed to help current and emerging leaders from a variety of sectors better identify, talk about and intervene to address white privilege/white supremacy and its consequences. Helped design, pilot, evaluate, launch and maintain this online resource. Designed online presence for the curriculum, created marketing newsletters, and helped present on the material at various conferences, including the White Privilege Conferences in Philadelphia, 2016 and in Kansas City, 2017.

M.A. in International Development & Social Change

(Concentration in Monitoring and Evaluation)

Clark University, Worcester Massachusetts

  • Research focus on development via the artisan sector, particularly as a means of economic empowerment for women and marginalized communities. Master's thesis on systemic challenges and opportunities in fair and alternative models and production and trade.

  • Completed an evaluation project with Refugee Artisans of Worcester to co-create an emerging theory of change and associated interim and longer-term outcomes and indicators to support their work. Project included simultaenous translation focus groups with artisans from Myanmar/Burma, field work and observation with staff and artisans, and delivery of a final dashboard report and related recommendations.

  • Member of a student-led team that conducted field research to co-create a gender and climate focused Disaster Preparedness Plan for a community in Southern Haiti. Work included feedback and focus group conversations with women and girls in a number of villages across the White River region.

  • Co-writer on “Best Practices in Donor Programing and Key Considerations: Gender and Social Protection.” Report for the Gender-responsive and Climate-resilient Agriculture for Nutrition Initiative (GCAN). International Food Policy Research Institute: Washington, DC. With Sarah Maloney and Nicole le Roux.

  • Coursework including: Rural Livelihood Strategies; Women’s Economic Empowerment; Race in Development; Illicit Commodities; Disaster Preparedness and Recovery; and Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods for Monitoring and Evaluation. Graduated summa cum laude.