About Us
OUR STORY
The Program Evaluation & Research Collaborative, or PERC, was founded in 1995 by faculty in the College of Education at the California State University Los Angeles, out of a desire to collaborate in research and evaluation projects in education and related service areas. By 2019, PERC had grown from a small collaborative of faculty to an external, full-service evaluation and applied research firm. Dr. Cheryl Ney, then Dean of the College of Education, brought Dr. Dawn Digrius Smith onboard in after the retirement of the Director, to serve as Senior Evaluation Consultant and oversee management of PERC.
By June of 2021, Dr. Ney felt that PERC should move to a fully external entity and in July of 2021 DMDS Partners, Inc. was incorporated and a transitional program for current clients was designed and executed. In September 2021, DMDS Partners, Inc. transitioned all existing clients from the Program Evaluation and Research Collaborative (PERC) to its operations in Altadena, California.
Since then, DMDS Partners, Inc. has grown from a small collaborative to a corporation serving the needs of both the Education and Non-Profit sectors.
OUR MISSION AND VISION
Our commitment is to see lives transformed through education and/or career path exploration and development, especially for vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. We see ourselves as facilitators of change- positive changemakers for the future. Our focus centers on all aspects of Workforce Development; from grant writing and servicing, assessment of impacts and outcomes, to partnership development between organizations and institutions and the Business/Corporate sector. We use data to inform clients on current and future labor demands and the talent needed to fill those demands. We connect education providers to employment providers and vice versa
OUR WORK
The DMDS Partners, Inc. team holds over two decades' of experience in evaluation and applied research activities for the K-12, higher education, and non-profit sectors. We are committed to facilitating institutional knowledge, best practices, and data-driven decision making through our evaluation and applied research services and our grants services.
Many of our clients have partnered with us to help with researching funding opportunities, writing grant proposals, servings as the external evaluator of record, and managing grants. DMDS Partners, Inc. also provides assistance with Landscape Analyses, Needs Assessments/Gap Analyses, and Program/Project Evaluation. We help clients make meaningful decisions based on data, we provide data visualization and data analytics services to make information more accessible.
Meet the Team
Our Team draws from expertise in higher education, the K-12 sector, and in the non-profit sector.
President & CEO
Dawn Digrius Smith, Ph.D.
Dawn Digrius Smith earned her award winning Ph.D. in History/History of Science from Drew University, Madison, New Jersey. She holds a M.Phil. in European Intellectual History and the History of Science, and a B.A. summa cum laude with Specialized Honors in Anthropology/Archaeology from Drew as well.
Over the last 15 years, Dr. Digrius Smith has worked in higher education as a faculty member, administrator, project manager, and consultant. Her expertise in mixed methods evaluation emerged from her extensive research project experience working with ESPOL in Ecuador, the United Nations SDGs, and her work with the Permanent Mission of El Salvador and Ambassador Carlos Garcia.
Prior to her role as CEO of DMDS Partners, Dr. Digrius Smith was Senior Project Manager for the California State University STEM Collaboratives Project, a $4.64 million initiative to increase persistence and close opportunity gaps for URMs majoring in STEM at eight (8) CSU campuses. She has also served as Executive Director for STEM Advantage, a 501c3 based in Southern California.
Senior Evaluation Consultant
Melissa F. MacDonald, Ph.D.
Melissa MacDonald earned her Ph.D. in Education at UCLA, holds a M.A. in Education from UCLA and a B.A. in Psychology and Spanish from Georgetown University. As a scholar and independent contractor, she has extensive experience with research, evaluation, facilitation, strategic planning, and project management for clients including the California Department of Education, the Los Angeles County Office of Education, the Orange County Department of Education, the San Diego County Office of Education, and Jamboree Housing Corporation.
Senior Data Dashboard Consultant
Brian Robinson, Ph.D.
Brian Robinson comes to DMDS Partners from the world of higher education. Having earned a Ph.D. in Religious Studies in 2018 and teaching since 2014, Dr. Robinson's work centers on the intersection of gender, race, and identity in religious texts. This work combines the best of cutting-edge methodology to identify new insights and pathways through seemingly intractable problems and giving people new ways of thinking about themselves and others.
Dr. Robinson brings a robust set of analytical and technical skills together with the ability to synthesize results pointing to actionable insights for stakeholders. His passion for rigorous investigation and analysis can be seen in projects such as his use of unsupervised machine learning to better understand and predict voter behavior and identifying focal points of conversation using natural language processing.
Senior Data Analytics Consultant
Jackson Torres, B.S.
Jackson Torres earned his B.S. in Statistics at UCLA in 2020. He has always had a passion for education and helping others. Jackson has worked as a statistical consultant at UCLA Psychiatric Laboratory and as an operations analyst for Kerckhoff Coffee House. Proficient in R programming, data cleaning, regression analysis, and data visualization, he brings not only his technical skills to the team, but also is passionate about using data to improve student well-being and learning outcomes. Jackson has worked in and volunteered at local underserved high schools since he was in high school himself. With his background in statistics, he is excited to utilize data analytics to make a difference in the field of education.
Project Management Consultant
Christopher Carter
Christopher Carter is studying Business Management at California State University, Northridge and will soon earn his Bachelor's Degree. Christopher has experience in managing information and teams in an ethical manner and enjoys using data to solve problems. In his spare time, he likes to play e-sports and various forms of racing.
Grants Management Consultant
Claire Loesch
Claire Loesch is studying Accounting at California State University, Northridge working towards a Bachelor of Science degree. She facilitates our grants management services with our partners, including the Californians Devoted to Education Foundation.
In her spare time, Claire volunteers in the community with organizations such as the Friends of Foster Children, San Gabriel Valley.