Johanna Greeson Consulting

I established Johanna Greeson Consulting in response to a demonstrated need in my community: Small organizations in need of professional and technical evaluation services that are turned away by the large universities because of budget limitations. I am dedicated to using my skills, training, and personal passion to help your organization identify and solve the significant real-world problems confronting the children, families, and communities you serve. I apply the most current scientific findings, methods, and best practices in all endeavors, and specialize in working with smaller organizations seeking to build capacity and improve effectiveness. My approach is personal, hands-on, applied, and collaborative. As part of the evaluation process, I build relationships with my clients. This is an integral part of how I empower individuals and organizations to cultivate improvement and self-determination through research and evaluation.

I have five years of professional research and evaluation experience prior to earning my PhD in social work. My previous work experience includes managing the process and outcome evaluations for 22 county-funded youth crime prevention programs in Miami, FL, and conducting a multi-year outcome evaluation for a private foster care agency in Coral Gables, FL.

While earning my PhD, I worked as a graduate research assistant on multiple projects with tenured/tenure-track faculty at the School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I assisted with report and article writing, program planning and development, process and outcome evaluation development and implementation, data analysis, data interpretation, and grant writing. During my 4-year tenure at UNC-Chapel Hill, I authored/co-authored 9 published, peer-reviewed articles with faculty mentors in the areas of natural mentoring, evidence-based practices for youth in foster care, residential group care, intensive in-home therapy, and low-income homeownership. My work has appeared in American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Children & Youth Services Review, Journal of Evidence Based Social Work, Housing Policy Debate, and Research on Social Work Practice. In 2007-2008, I was named the School of Social Work's Outstanding Doctoral Student of the Year. I serve on the Advisory Council of Beyond Expectations, a Philadelphia-based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization originally concerned about the limited information available to students for their educational pursuits 'beyond' high school that today works to raise awareness about teens aging out of foster care. I also volunteer as a youth mentor with Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools.

I have a PhD in social work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2009), a Master of Social Service and Master of Law & Social Policy from Bryn Mawr College's Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research (2001), and a BA in Sociology/Anthropology – Education from Swarthmore College (1997). I am a member of the American Evaluation Association and the Society for Social Work & Research.

Recently, I was a call-in guest on National Public Radio's Radio Times with Marty Moss Coane out of Philadelphia. The show featured Philadelphia's newest charter high school, Arise Academy, which is exclusively for foster youth and the only one like it in the country. My question starts at 39:12. Listen to the show

I was recently interviewed on BlogTalkRadio by Leontyne Anglin for her show "Volunteering is Phenomenal". We talked at length about the nearly 20,000 teens who "age out" of foster care each year, which is the focus of Leontyne Anglin's independent short film, "18 and Out".