Susan N. Labin is a consultant with over 25 years of experience in research and evaluation to inform policy and programs. She has worked collaboratively with a variety of stakeholders including private employers, labor unions, senior-level federal and state government managers, and community-based organizations. At the national and state levels her specialty is planning and evaluating programs, as well as synthesizing existing data to inform policy. At the local level her focus is working collaboratively with programs to build their evaluation capacity and improve their programs and outcomes. Dr. Labin has worked in multi-cultural settings both domestically and internationally. She brings in other associates as needed and is committed to a positive team approach. Consultant Services:
From 2013-2017 Dr. Labin was part of an inter-organizational team contracted by the US Department of Labor to conduct a Demonstration and Evaluation of Short-Time Compensation https://www.dol.gov/asp/evaluation/CompletedStudies.htm. Her role included being the team's lead on the implementation study and personally interviewing employers and all the relevant state staff in the demonstration states. Dr. Labin has demonstrated her versatility and
ability to apply her collaborative and methodological skills across a range of
substantive areas in addition to workforce and employment including evaluation capacity building, disability employment, health, youth and family, substance abuse, education, traffic safety, and community service and
development. Methodological Expertise: Dr. Labin has designed and implemented longitudinal, experimental and quasi-experimental designs, including time series analyses and integrated mixed qualitative and quantitative methods. She has developed measures that have been used repeatedly in national evaluation surveys. This includes scales of risk and resiliency that were used in national evaluations of youth programs. Her interest in systematic reviews led her to work at the Program Evaluation and Methodology Division of the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) to develop and implement early translational research methods to synthesize research for congressional policy makers. She authored "Research Synthesis: Toward Broad-Based Evidence" in Fundamental Issues in Evaluation (2008) summarizing the systematic synthesis methodology (see attached list of Publications). She is the lead author of A Research Synthesis of Evaluation Capacity Building Literature, which was the 6th most widely read article in the American Journal of Evaluation (AJE) in 2013. She was the invited author for The Future of Evaluation Methodology, AJE. Both of these articles continue to be widely read and cited. Dr. Labin has used various visual models for planning, evaluation, legislative analysis, organizational change, and knowledge development. These models include elements from widely used logic models in evaluation and, when appropriate, incorporate principles of the Harvard-developed Balanced Scorecard. She has used these models to demonstrate the strategic and financial benefits for companies, communities, and government--the business case--of workplace practices that also improve the outcomes of health and well-being for employees and their families. Managerial and Reporting Expertise: Dr. Labin has designed, managed, and implemented multi-million dollar national, as well as local project studies. She has conducted over 30 presentations at professional conferences such as the American Evaluation Association, American Public Health Association, and American Sociological Association; co-authored numerous published reports; authored numerous internal government agency reports; and published multiple articles and chapters (see "Contact' for attached list of Publications). Organizational and Academic Background: Dr. Labin is currently a consultant. Most recently she was a Senior Fellow at Social Dynamics, an evaluation and research company specializing in workforce and employment. Previously she was the Vice President at Social Dynamics and before Social Dynamics, she was the Director of Evaluation at the Washington, D.C. office of Temple University's Institute for Survey Research. Dr. Labin has worked a number of years in the federal government in both the legislative and executive branches including at the Program Evaluation and Methodology Division of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, The Corporation for National and Community Service, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Labin holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Southern California where her areas of study were evaluation, women's studies, and juvenile justice. As a graduate student, she was a National Institute of Mental Health Evaluation Fellow and a National Institute of Health grantee. She graduated with honors from the University of California with a B.A. in history. Presentations and Publications: See "Contact" for attached list. |