Our Team

She is widely recognized for her leadership role in building an interdisciplinary field of research on research use in policy and practice, expanding research-practice partnerships, and supporting a broader movement to democratize evidence. She regularly speaks to international and domestic audiences on equity-centered and evidence-informed policy and practice. Her research on racial, cultural, and immigration influences on child development have been published in Child Development and her research on promoting social change through research and philanthropy have appeared in the American Journal of Community Psychology, American Psychologist, and Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.

Dr. Tseng’s career reflects an abiding commitment to racial equity. She has fostered greater equity in grantmaking, developed funding programs to support researchers of color and nonprofit leaders from racially minoritized and LGBTQ communities, and mentored countless junior colleagues throughout her career.

Dr. Tseng received her Ph.D. from NYU and her B.A. from UCLA. She recently completed her service as Board chair of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy and currently serves on the Boards of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees and the Federation of Associations in the Behavioral and Brain Sciences. She is co-founder of the Transforming Evidence Funders Network and the Learning Community on Using Evidence for Change (affectionately called “The Nerd Herd”). Close.

Before joining the Foundation, Sherice demonstrated her prowess in digital strategy and press relations as she revolutionized visibility and communication efforts at FPWA, a leading anti-poverty policy and advocacy nonprofit committed to economic and social justice. Her innovative introduction of e-marketing and dynamic social media campaigns significantly bolstered the organization’s outreach and engagement.

With over 15 years of diverse experience spanning journalism, social media management, public relations, digital marketing, and nonprofit leadership, Sherice brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to her role.  Sherice is thrilled to contribute her talents to the Foundation’s transformative work and is honored to be an integral member of the team.

She holds a B.A. in Journalism from Temple University. Close.

Dr. Golden is the former commissioner for children, youth and families and assistant secretary for children and families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She served most recently for almost nine years as the executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy. Over four decades, she has played senior roles in multiple nonprofit and public sector organizations committed to advancing the well-being of children and families, including as the founding director of the District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency, bringing the agency out of court-imposed receivership, and as a senior fellow and institute fellow at the Urban Institute.

Her prior roles include director of programs and policy at the Children’s Defense Fund, director of state operations for the Governor of New York, lecturer in public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and budget director of Massachusetts’s Executive Office of Human Services. Close.

Prior to joining the Foundation, JoAnn held the position of director of the Family Well-being and Children’s Development Policy Area at MDRC, a nonprofit organization focused on social and education policy research. During her tenure, she significantly expanded the Policy Area’s influence and portfolio, focusing on early childhood education, Pre-K to third-grade alignment, home visiting, and two-generational programs. Her work is distinguished by its rigorous methodology and emphasis on addressing social, racial, and economic inequalities.

She has broad research interests in social, economic, and educational policy, programs, and practices that influence family and child development and well-being, particularly for populations that have been historically marginalized due to social, racial, and economic inequality. She is widely recognized for her deep expertise in early childhood education, Early Head Start, Head Start, PreK to third grade alignment, and early care and education workforce support strategies. Specifically, her research has focused on using rigorous methods to identify the critical ingredients of policies and programs in early childhood education that can support educators and promote young children’s achievement and development at scale in communities of color and economic. She also has focused the integration of equity-informed, culturally responsive frameworks that prioritize the perspectives of educators and families and young children from historically marginalized groups in the development of early childhood measures of children’s skills and competencies. In doing so, her work has aimed to expand the data landscape available to inform policymakers and practitioners in building more equitable, culturally responsive early childhood systems to support all children and families.

With a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a Ph.D. in community psychology from New York University, JoAnn brings a wealth of academic rigor and practical insight to her leadership role. She is committed to fostering racial and economic equity, as evidenced by initiatives such as launching MDRC’s equity collaborative and serving on committees dedicated to promoting equity in publishing. Close.

Previously, Dorothy was the executive assistant at the F.B. Heron Foundation, a private foundation based in New York City that focuses on wealth creation strategies for low-income communities and social investing. Dorothy directly supported Heron’s executive team and served as the primary contact to the Board of Directors. She has also served as the executive assistant to the President of the Museum of Art & Design. Dorothy holds a B.A. in Art History from the University of Colorado. Close.

Prior to founding Sapient Solutions, Chris served as the executive director of Grantmakers for Education, a national network of 300 foundations. During her tenure she established new partnership opportunities for foundations with the U.S. Department of Education, deepened the field’s understanding about philanthropic roles and levers in public policy, and championed a stronger focus on early childhood education and development among K-12 funders.

Chris has led strategy development processes as a consultant, an executive director and a board member. She particularly enjoys incorporating principles and practices from the field of Emergent Learning, which helps people across a system think, learn and adapt together in order to overcome complex challenges and achieve social change goals. She has held leadership positions on a number of boards in the education and child advocacy fields, serving as past board chair of PBLWorks, an international professional development organization, and Children’s Institute, an early childhood advocacy organization. She earned a Master’s in Public Policy from U.C. Berkeley with a concentration in education policy and a BA in Economics with distinction from Stanford University. Close.