
Data for Good
Pollock + Partners is me, Alessandra Pollock, and for many of my projects, expert partners who help extend my individual capacity and abilities. My partners are dear friends and colleagues with whom I’ve developed close working relationships throughout my career in public service. This network allows me to build unique, highly specialized teams for each project I take on or support and to make useful referrals for projects outside my areas of expertise.
My background includes a Master's Degree in Public Administration focused on management and leadership and nearly two decades of experience with practical research. My approaches elevate the voices of participants and program staff and reshape inequitable systems. I offer analysis and evaluation, data coaching, data collection and evaluation for strategic plans and equity consultantancies, performance measurement, and program design for local government and nonprofit organizations. I have worked in a wide variety of environments including criminal justice, mental health, human services, infrastructure, philanthropy and governement funding, education, and for private businesses.
A few of my recent partners:
Services and Projects

Program
Evaluation
I work collaboratively with partners and clients to design and implement evaluations that support decision making and center the voices of those most impacted by the work.
Washington State Early Achievers child care quality program annual evaluation (2019-ongoing); partner with The Athena Group
Seattle Environmental Justice Fund reporting and evaluation assessment (2021)
Washington State Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation developmental evaluation (2021); partner with The Athena Group
University of Washington Advancement Racial Equity Plan evaluation assessment (2021)
Washington State Early Connections Plan and Learn Evaluation (2020); partner with The Athena Group
King County 4Culture Program Evaluation in the context of 2020 strategic planning (2019-2020); partner with Vessel Strategy and Consulting
King County Best Starts for Kids School Partnership evaluation (2018-2019); partner with Puget Sound Educational Service District
Internal evaluation capacity building for education-focused youth re-engagement programs in Texas and Ohio (2017)
Data
Coaching
I help individuals and organizations use data equitably to tell the story of their program through numbers and narrative. I facilitate group and individual sessions to develop logic models and theory of change documents and often share simple tracking tools to make data collection and analysis manageable and even fun.
King County Best Starts for Kids Data Capacity Building Team (2020-ongoing); partner with Crux Consulting
Graduate Tacoma Community Learning Fund Data Capacity Consulting (2019-2021); partner with Puget Sound Educational Service District
South King County education youth re-engagement programs, individually and through learning workshops (2016-2017)
Program and policy Analysis
I conduct policy and program analysis that helps answer key questions to improve lives and streamline services.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion engagement employee data collection and analysis (2020-ongoing); partner with Social Designs and Moving Beyond
Best Starts for Kids COVID-19 Impact Report (2021); partner with Berk Consulting
Pierce County youth and young adult homelessness assessment and scan (2019); partner with Berk Consulting
Senior Center West Seattle data analysis (2019); partner with Verrenti Consulting
College and career readiness activities, supports, and approaches in South King County school districts (2018)
Pierce County afterschool and summer learning programs landscape scan (2018)
King County afterschool and summer learning program landscape scan (2017); partner with Berk Consulting
South King County college-credit earning among students taking Advanced Placement courses (2017)
Suggested Resources
A few of the resources I use most often and that you also might find helpful

Program Evaluation and Data
Doing Evaluation in Service of Racial Equity is a three-part series of practice guides that show how to incorporate racial equity as a core value into evaluation.
Michael Q Patton’s Evaluation Implications of the Coronavirus Global Health Pandemic Emergency
American Evaluation Association: Resources, knowledge, and opportunities to conect with evaluation practitioners
Racial Equity Tools and Resources
Racial Equity Tools offers tools, research, tips, curricula and ideas for people who want to increase their own understanding and to help those working toward justice at every level – in systems, organizations, communities and the culture at large.
Fakequity blog about racial equity and its nemesis Fakequity. According to the site, “Some of the posts may veer off towards equity’s siblings and cousins diversity, inclusion, culture, community engagement, accountability, etc.”
Facilitation and Engagement
Online facilitation guidance from Peggy Holman, co-founder and director of Journalism that Matters
Creative Reaction Lab, a new-to-me organization doing equity-centered community engagement, problem solving, and creating inclusive and equitable outcomes
Selected Past Projects
Examples of past projects and partners

Program Design and Planning
As a part of my role with Community Center for Education Results (CCER) and the Road Map Project, I worked with a small organization that wanted to improve their data reporting capabilities. They were using an annually-updated excel spreadsheet and wanted a more user-friendly and automated interface for their staff to enter data on clients more frequently. We worked over two sessions to identify the key elements of their program theory. It was crucial to understand how data collection might affect student-staff relationships and to design a system that would honor and improve high quality student services.
Analytics Implementation
While working at King County's Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget, I collaborated with the Lean Team as we built a system of management processes to help the King County Executive Leadership Team learn about the important work done throughout County government and provide the support and resources Departments needed to successfully serve King County residents. In addition, I worked directly with Department Directors and the Executive team to determine how to report project status in a useful way, making the process more simple for Directors and more informative for leadership.
Reflect on Results
Analyzing data and sharing insights has been a cornerstone of my career. From looking at the impact of financial literacy training, to identifying strengths and challenges of Mental Health Court operations, to supporting improved strategies for serving students throughout South King County, I've been involved in the all stages of analysis and reflection, including technical data work and reporting results for diverse audiences. I've worked with large quantitative data sets and am equally comfortable analyzing results from focus groups and surveys.
When I look at a set of data and prepare results, I think about the key questions facing my audience, how I can use a structural lens to avoid racial or other stereotypes, and how to include the voice of clients and staff in searching for root causes.
Adjust Strategy or Approach
Working with colleagues from King County Mental Health, Seattle's Mental Health Court team, the Sound Mental Health nonprofit, and Seattle Municipal Court Leadership, we created a better solution for mentally ill defendants who were not competent to stand trial. I analyzed data regarding criminal case filings and service needs for defendants involved in mental competency hearings. We found that many were cycling in and out of jail, harming their healing processes and using valuable court resources. We developed a new program to provide housing and case management services that was successful in reducing recidivism and helping improve mental health and housing stability.
Key Project Partners and past Employers
Local Government
King County Department of Community
and Human ServicesKing County Public Health
Seattle Equity & Environment Initiative
King County 4Culture
Seattle Municipal Court
King County Office for Performance,
Strategy and BudgetKing County Division of
Developmental Disabilities
Nonprofits
King County Best Starts for Kids Grantees, including WestSide Baby, Kindering, Friends of the Children, STEM Paths Innovation Network, Kandelia, HopeCentral
Northwest Education Access
FamilyWorks
Washington State Coalition Against
Domestic ViolenceUnited Way of King County
Domestic Abuse Women’s Network
Education
Community Center for Education Results
(Road Map Project)Puget Sound Educational Service District
WA Office for the Superintendent
of Public Instruction
A little more about me…
I've lived in the Pacific Northwest for about 20 years, developing deep ties and friendships that nourish my soul and provide some protection from the dark winters. I am committed to anti-racism and my own ongoing learning and improvement to create a beloved community for all. I volunteer for FamilyWorks food banks and family resource center, play outside, read novels and some nonfiction, cook, garden, spend time with friends, and plan travel for vacation and to volunteer. As a result of the pandemic, I connected with Friendly Hmong Farms and have served as a connection between my neighbors and farmers for two summers and counting. I finished college in Montana, where I met my husband and cultivated a love for wilderness adventures. I have two nearly-grown daughters, two cats, and a revolving flock of hens.
please keep in touch
Contact me via email at alessandra@pollockandpartners.net or use the form below.
