Senior Research Associate
Christina has worked with the CARS team in a consultant or full-time capacity since 2004. In addition to being a Senior Research Associate, she is Field Director for the Now is the Time Technical Assistance (NITT-TA) Center. Christina has a primary focus in promoting evidence-based and culturally appropriate programs and practices that foster resilience and build assets at the individual and community levels. In program evaluation, her areas of expertise include logic models, measure development, evaluation planning and implementation, data management and analysis, dissemination of findings to key stakeholders and the field, and application of evaluation findings for ongoing project improvement. Her topics of interest in youth development encompass application of resiliency frameworks, integration of proven best practices, and linking youth development processes to measurable program outcomes.
Christina received her doctoral degree in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University in 2004. At Columbia, she was a research scientist and coordinator at the National Center for Children and Families, where her work included evaluation of the Life Skills Training prevention program in New York City schools; analysis of youth development research, programs, and policies; and an impact assessment of families in desegregated public housing in Yonkers, NY. As Director of the Research and Planning department at KidsFirst, she directed the creation of a TTA coalition of nine non-profit agencies serving youth in the Placer County region. As the research director at the Child Abuse Prevention Council in California, she worked closely with First 5 California to improve the design of Family Resource Centers to offer evidence-based parenting programs and effective systems for early childhood health and nutrition, and to create partnerships for early childhood education.