Building the evidence base for fighting poverty

Dr. Melanie Ali (she/her) is a social scientist who serves as the Research Portfolio Officer at CoLab. Melanie manages CoLab’s portfolio of longitudinal impact evaluations, ensuring compliance with grant agreements and research quality standards. She also leads CoLab’s communities of practice, facilitating peer learning across grantees and surfacing cross-cutting insights that advance evidence-based solutions for upward mobility.

Prior to joining CoLab, Melanie spent more than 20 years at the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES). There she designed and managed a diverse portfolio of studies focused on understanding how federal education policies and strategies can best support individuals from underserved communities. This included descriptive and causal studies on innovative strategies in K-12, postsecondary and adult education. Examples include strategies for promoting literacy and English acquisition, developing and retaining effective educators, and connecting individuals to postsecondary opportunities.

Most recently Melanie was Branch Chief within IES’ National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, where she was responsible for national evaluations of adult, career and technical education programs and postsecondary access and success strategies. Collaborating with content area experts and external partners, she ensured sound study design and execution while also ensuring alignment with agency learning needs.

Melanie holds a Doctorate in Experimental Psychology from the City University of New York and a Master of Arts in Experimental Psychology from Radford University.

Ruthvin Gardiner (he/him) is a Research Associate at the Constellation Lab (CoLab). Ruthvin reviews and leverages existing evidence to inform CoLab’s investments into research on intergenerational poverty-fighting solutions, and he supports and advises CoLab-supported research activities. He also plays a significant project management role as CoLab moves from its startup phase to full implementation with investments into applied research projects.

Ruthvin previously worked as a Research Assistant for the University of Minnesota’s Public Life Project where he researched evidence to address division and polarization and organized initiatives on civic education and democracy through cultivating partnerships. Previously, he was an educator with middle to high school students at Gifft Hill School, an independent organization offering experiential learning opportunities on the island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Ruthvin is a graduate of the Master of Arts in Public Policy program at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, and he completed his Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Hispanic Studies and Global Management at Earlham College.

Dr. Matt Morton (he/him) is an applied researcher with significant experience in working with communities, government, and philanthropy to create and use evidence for action. Matt is the Executive Director of the Constellation Lab (CoLab), which aims to bolster upward mobility by producing actionable data through high-quality, longitudinal research on programs, practices, and their effects. CoLab is a philanthropic partnership of the Constellation Fund and the Foundation for Educational Research and Development (FERD). 

Matt’s work has focused both in the U.S. and internationally on evidence-based practice and policy-making, research and evaluation methods, poverty-reduction policies, youth empowerment, homelessness prevention, and gender-based violence prevention. 

In Matt’s previous role as Research Fellow at Chapin Hall, he led Voices of Youth Count, the most extensive national research initiative to-date on youth homelessness. He also developed homelessness prevention models, led youth homelessness system assessments, and spearheaded a multisite evaluation of cash transfer and support programs for young adults.

Matt held previous positions at the World Bank as an Economist and Social Protection Specialist, the U.S. government as a Special Advisor on youth and family policy, in philanthropy, and with youth-serving nonprofits. While working in the federal government, he was a key contributor to the development of the U.S. Government’s national strategy and framework to end youth homelessness. Matt’s work is widely published and has influenced policy, philanthropic investments, and practice, and he has keynoted and presented at hundreds of events. Central to his work is the importance of collaborating with lived and community experts. 

Matt is a Board Member for the Corporation for Supportive Housing, an Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Adolescent Health, an Associate Member of University of Oxford’s Centre for Evidence Based Intervention, and a Research Management Committee Member for Making the Shift (in Canada). Matt holds a Masters of Science and Doctorate in Evidence-Based Social Intervention and Policy Evaluation from the University of Oxford where he was a Green Templeton Fellow.

Dr. José Pacas (he/him) is an applied labor economist with over a decade of working with large administrative datasets, poverty measurement, and innovative uses of Census data. José serves as Constellation Lab’s (CoLab) Director of Data Leadership & Investment where he leads the work on building collaborations to strengthen and leverage administrative data capacity and access for longitudinal impact evaluations.

Prior to joining CoLab, José served as the Chief of Data Science and Research at Kids First Chicago (K1C), a non-profit that aims to dramatically improve education for Chicago’s children by ensuring their families are the respected authorities on what their kids need and decision-makers in their kids’ education. In the role, José oversaw data analysis needs, data tool development, program evaluation, and the organization’s growing research agenda.

José previously served as an Economist in the Poverty Statistics and the Longitudinal Research, Evaluation, and Outreach (LREO) Branches at the US Census Bureau and as a Research Scientist at IPUMS, the world’s largest publicly-accessible database of census microdata, focusing on the Current Population Survey and American Community Survey. He served as a member of a National Academy of Sciences panel on poverty measurement.

José currently serves as a senior advisor for two organizations (Center for Migration Studies of New York and the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University) where he provides guidance on statistical, methodological, and data infrastructure issues. This includes providing guidance on the development of a new data platform that models the effects of methodological and policy changes on the Supplemental Poverty Measure’s estimates of poverty in the United States. José’s academic publications include analyses of immigration policy, employment, and poverty dynamics.

José is the son of Salvadoran immigrants, born in Los Angeles and raised in Argentina, Perú, and New Jersey. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Economics and a Master’s of Public Policy from the University of Minnesota as well as a B.A. from Williams College.

Stacy Sweeney (she/her) has twenty years of experience in housing, social services, and restorative practices. Her efforts have focused on building partnerships with community members to develop comprehensive solutions that address the interconnected issues of housing, social equity, racial justice, and economic stability. 

As founder and principal consultant of Sweeney Grants & Consulting, she excels in data analysis, grant acquisition, and team leadership. By conducting in-depth operational assessments, she identifies and resolves challenges, providing actionable recommendations to improve performance and system efficiency. Stacy’s notable achievements include developing a Strategic Framework for Equity-grounded Housing Stability Mediation Services in collaboration with Community Mediation Minnesota, supporting leadership transitions at The Bridge for Youth, and enhancing evaluation capacity for Community Dispute Resolution Programs in partnership with the Minnesota Judicial Branch and the Office of Collaboration and Dispute Resolution. Stacy’s other affiliations have included the 100 Day Challenge to End Youth Homelessness – Hennepin County, CoLab Lived Expert Impact Support Team, and the Hennepin County Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project. 

Previously, as Program Executive of Youth & Family Housing and Homeless Services at the YMCA of the North from 2013 to 2022, Stacy established a robust infrastructure, enabling the program to support over 6,000 youth and families annually in attaining housing stability, well-being, and ultimate self-sufficiency. Stacy holds a Master of Public Administration from Metro State University, a Bachelor of Arts in Social Justice Leadership from The Evergreen State College and an Associate of Applied Sciences in Social & Human Services from Seattle Central College.