We practice equitable research and evaluation and capacity building to drive meaningful change by working closely with program participants, partners, grantees, and community members. We believe true insight emerges when we center lived experiences and co-create knowledge with communities. We partner with a diverse range of clients—from cities and foundations to large and small nonprofit organizations—to provide rigorous, actionable evaluation and capacity-building support. Across vital areas like youth development, arts education, workforce initiatives, and juvenile justice reform, our work fuels continuous improvement and advances social justice.
MAI staff is composed of expert researchers, evaluators, and technical assistance providers that have a deep commitment to research that improves practice.
We practice equitable research and evaluation to drive meaningful change by working closely with program participants, partners, grantees, and community members.
We have deep knowledge of the out-of-school time sector generally, and have additional specific expertise in arts education. We work with afterschool and summer programs to understand how these programs contribute to youth development and social capital.
Our expertise extends to initiatives that help leaders, governments, and communities create pathways to health equity and racial justice. We partner with foundations to help them understand the collective impact of their investments and provide insights for future philanthropic decisions.
We work with programs that prepare young people and adults for meaningful careers. This includes initiatives focused on job training, skill building, and connecting individuals to employment opportunities.
We have expertise in programs and policies aimed at improving outcomes for youth involved in or at risk of involvement with the justice system. Our work in this area emphasizes advancing equity and reducing recidivism.
McClanahan Associates, Inc. (MAI) has a long history of using planning, capacity building, evaluation, and research tools to help funders, philanthropic organizations, government entities, and nonprofits foster a culture of learning to enhance their social impact. We work closely with the organizations we partner with—capitalizing on their deep knowledge of the context, the population they serve, and their own programs and strategies—to generate information and recommendations that are understandable, practical, and useful. We believe that meaningful evaluation efforts respond to each program’s unique needs, align with the developmental stage of the program, and produce information that is immediately relevant to the client.
Our program evaluation practice helps programs, initiatives, and organizations maximize their desired impact. The process begins with designing a tailored evaluation that can examine everything from implementation and outcomes to the complexities of multi-pronged initiatives. Our associates then employ a full range of data collection and analysis techniques, using qualitative, quantitative, and creative methods. The crucial step is a collaborative meaning-making process with partners, where we co-create meaning of the findings into actionable insights and compelling storytelling that drives improvement.
Our research practice is field-building. We answer timely questions, grounded in theory, to produce credible evidence for state and local policymakers, practitioners, and funders. By blending rigorous analysis with on-the-ground partnership, we generate actionable knowledge that helps constituencies make informed decisions and advance their collective work.
As a core service, we help strengthen organizations’ internal abilities to measure their impact, use data for learning, and build robust performance management systems. We tailor our support to meet the unique needs of a wide range of organizations, but we always start with co-creating a custom learning plan to define and measure success meaningfully. We provide hands-on coaching and workshops on practical skills in data collection, analysis, and storytelling, with the goal of developing sustainable systems and easy-to-use tools that teams can own and manage long-term.
We have specialized expertise in partnering with philanthropic foundations. We provide rigorous evaluation and research services to help foundations understand the collective impact of their investments, conduct portfolio reviews, and generate knowledge that informs future philanthropic decisions.
At McClanahan Associates, Inc. (MAI), we believe that equitable evaluation and research are powerful tools for learning and advancing justice. Our approach is rooted in the understanding that traditional methods can inadvertently reflect and perpetuate systemic biases. We are committed to transforming this paradigm by embracing the principles of the Equitable Evaluation Initiative (EEI), ensuring our practices genuinely serve communities and drive meaningful change.
We actively partner with clients and their communities, valuing lived experiences as a primary source of knowledge. This means engaging participants and constituencies in shaping research questions, designing data collection instruments, and interpreting findings.
Our evaluations are designed to build on existing community assets and uplift voices, rather than focusing solely on deficits. We work to shift power dynamics within the evaluation process, ensuring that insights are catalytic and actionable for those most impacted.
We uphold the highest ethical standards, recognizing the invaluable contributions of those who provide data. This includes compensating individuals for their time and expertise, implementing thoughtful data collection strategies to avoid overburdening participants and staff, collecting consent and securing Institutional Review Board (IRB) review for all of our projects, and ensuring transparent data use.
We emphasize understanding the unique cultural context of each program and the systemic inequities that shape participants’ experiences. Our methods are adapted to be culturally relevant and accessible, ensuring findings resonate with diverse identities.
Guided by the Equitable Evaluation Initiative framework, we challenge conventional notions of rigor to prioritize insights that foster continuous learning, improve practice, and advance systemic change. Our goal is to generate knowledge that informs institutional refinements and builds community power.
Administrative Coordinator
Don Haworth is MAI’s Administrative Coordinator, supporting grants management, accounting, and office operations. Prior to joining MAI, Don worked for Prince George’s County, Maryland, for over twenty years as a firefighter/paramedic, and served in the U.S. Air Force. Don has a long history of volunteer community service, including serving as a volunteer with Boy Scouts of America, participating in and leading several community groups, and was a volunteer firefighter. When he is not working at MAI, Don teaches martial arts and skiing/snowboarding.
Statistical Consultant
Sarah Pepper serves as a Statistical Consultant with MAI. Over the past 25 years, she has worked with a wide range of non-profit organizations and foundations to facilitate the design of data collection and analysis approaches and to help organizations strategize around manageable ways to monitor their fidelity to intended implementation efforts and anticipated outcomes.
She enjoys the experience of continually learning from each organization with which she has the pleasure to work. Sarah is grateful for the opportunity to jointly create evaluation tools and processes that are mutually beneficial to participants and practitioners.
Prior to working with MAI, Sarah worked with Public/Private Ventures as a Research Associate. She earned a Ph.D. in Demography and Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Sarah lives outside of Philadelphia where she enjoys officiating track meets, making new vegetarian recipes, and keeping up with the adventures of her adult children.
Research Associate
Sara Greenfield is a Research Associate at MAI. In her capacity as a Project Manager, Sara has led and overseen numerous diverse projects at MAI. Her experience extends across a spectrum of sectors, including social, health, education, and environmental justice. Sara also brings valuable experience in evaluating learning networks and communities of practice.
Sara is a mixed-methods researcher and is committed to applying a racial equity lens and cultural humility to all of her evaluation work. She is dedicated to gathering nuanced, systematic information about program implementation, constituent voices and experiences, programmatic outcomes, and areas of opportunity. Sara’s passion infuses depth and inclusivity into her evaluation work, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of diverse perspectives and advancing equity within her projects.
Sara, a first-generation Latina college graduate, earned her B.A. in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience from Temple University.
Sara, her husband Cliff, and two kiddos enjoy exploring outside, cooking and baking together, reading, and doing puzzles!
President/CEO
Wendy McClanahan is McClanahan Associate’s (MAI) President/CEO. Wendy uses her research and evaluation expertise to help programs, initiatives, and organizations maximize their impact, improve their practice, and fuel systemic change. Her approach centers the expertise and assets of the organizations she works with and the people they serve.
Over her career, Wendy has led studies of out-of-school time and mentoring programs, violence and crime reduction programs, health equity initiatives, and employment and training programs. She also works with organizations to help them grow their evaluation and learning capacity.
Prior to forming MAI, Wendy was senior vice president for research and evaluation at Public/Private Ventures. She has a PhD in Criminology from the University of Pennsylvania and a MS in Human Development from Penn State.
Wendy lives in the Philadelphia area and enjoys hanging out with her family and friends, playing games, and doing things that get her outside, like skiing and (leisurely) swimming (also known as “floating”).
“My approach to equitable research and evaluation is deeply informed by both my professional expertise and my personal experiences.
Growing up in a family with diverse socioeconomic and cultural roots and later raising a multiracial family has cultivated a profound understanding of varied pathways and the systemic forces that shape opportunity.
This lived experience, which includes navigating the collateral impact of the justice system on families, strengthens my commitment to research that not only rigorously analyzes data but also authentically centers lived experiences and drives actionable change for youth and families.” – Wendy McClanahan
