Joanne Basta, Ph.D., is a Senior Evaluation Associate who has worked as a professional program evaluator and applied researcher for over 25 years in local government and the courts, universities, and in private consulting.  She has a wealth of experience in designing and implementing a variety of projects, such as multi-method, multi-year process and impact evaluations, needs assessments, survey research, and in providing technical assistance for program development, performance measurement and evaluation planning. Her particular focus has been in juvenile and criminal justice and addressing disparities in these systems.  She has experience in planning feasible frameworks to measure performance that uses an organization’s existing data systems and resources. Joanne is especially motivated by making data useful and actionable for clients and assisting them to build their own internal capacity for measurement and evaluation. 

A sample of the range of projects she has managed and implemented have included SAMHSA and BJA-funded evaluations of drug courts, defining and analyzing recidivism measures for juvenile probation, statewide needs and assets assessments in early childhood education, and process and outcome evaluation of homelessness prevention programs.  
Joanne earned her Ph.D. in Ecological/Community Psychology from Michigan State University, and a minor in Developmental Psychology focusing on adolescence.

Outside of work Joanne enjoys the flora and fauna of the Sonoran Desert, swimming, cooking, reading good fiction, and spending time with her family and friends.