Directory

Joe Ryan's research and teaching build upon his direct practice experiences with child welfare and juvenile justice populations. Dr. Ryan is the Co-Director of the Child and Adolescent Data Lab an applied research center focused on using data to…

Milena Saakyan is a first-year MPP student at the Ford School of Public Policy. Prior to graduate school, Milena worked at the University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab evaluating the impact of college access and success programs across the city.…

H. Luke Shaefer, Ph.D. is the Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy and Professor of Public Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. At U-M, he is also the inaugural director…

Lauren is a project manager at LSA-Economics and the Youth Policy Lab where she manages the implementation of multiple randomized controlled trials. Her current projects include evaluations of summer youth employment programs and of Michigan’s…

Jennifer Smith is a research process manager with the Youth Policy Lab at the Survey Research Center at U-M. She has been in sponsored research administration at the University of Michigan for 24 years and serves as the key administrator and fiscal…

Kevin Stange is an Professor of Public Policy and co-director of the Education Policy Initiative at the University of Michigan where he teaches graduate courses in higher education policy, economics, and quantitative methods. He is also a faculty…

Sandra Tang is an Assistant Research Scientist at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. She splits her time working on the Maternal Infant Health Program with the Youth Policy Lab and education and data sharing projects at the…

Chihiro holds a Master’s in Public Administration in International Development from the Kennedy School at Harvard University and a Bachelor’s in International Economics from the University of British Columbia. She is passionate about using…

Rachel is a current junior undergraduate student, majoring in English and minoring in Crime & Justice at the University of Michigan. Her main goals focus on thinking “outside the box” in terms of policies and programs that benefit children and…

Megan Tompkins-Stange is an associate professor of public policy at the Ford School. She is the author of Policy Patrons: Philanthropy, Education Reform, and the Politics of Influence (Harvard Education Press, 2016). She is a scholar of education…

Zhonghan Xie is a second-year Master of Public Policy student at Ford School of Public Policy, with a keen interest in in education policies and healthcare policies. He is passionate for finding effective and scalable interventions to enhance…

Marina Zhai is a junior at the University of Michigan, studying Information Analysis, where she explores the dynamic intersection of psychology and technology. Passionate about leveraging data analytics to develop human-centered solutions, Marina…