Research, Data & Evaluation

Jessica Presley is the Center for Community-Engaged Evaluation’s Senior Director of Evaluation. She holds a master’s degree in Public Policy from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. She is a Diné and Osage evaluator who seeks to understand the complex and historical contexts in which community programs are implemented by engaging, listening, and following those who are at the heart of the work. She takes a culturally responsive approach to center evaluation within the cultural context in which programs operate. Jessica is a doctoral student in the Interdisciplinary PhD in Evaluation Program at Western Michigan University where she is focusing her studies on Indigenous Evaluation.

Dr. Shani Worrell is the Center for Community Engaged Evaluation’s Associate Director of Evaluation. Dr. Worrell immigrated to the US in 2001. She holds a doctorate in education from The George Washington University. She has almost two decades of experience designing, implementing, and managing evaluations for federal, state, local government, and non-government clients. She works closely with these clients to design tailored and rigorous evaluations that meet their needs and is aligned with their resources. In her current role at the Center, she oversees the design and implementation of internal and externally funded program evaluations. She applies a culturally responsive and equitable lens to these evaluations with the goal of eliciting and disseminating lessons that are reliable, valid, and actionable; so that application of these lessons will accelerate the pace of change and maximize benefits to individuals and communities.

Alex Staten (Jauregui-Dusseau) is a Diné and Mexican Research Senior Evaluator at the Center for Community Engaged Evaluation at UAMS Community Health and Research. She holds a doctorate degree in Health Science with a concentration in global health from A.T. Still University. She has two years of program evaluation experience in community health, with a focus on school-based interventions to improve student well-being, Indigenous food sovereignty, and community health literacy. It is Alex’s career goal to improve access to health services and reduce health disparities through a team-based and culturally informed approach. 

Luis Paganelli Marin is an Evaluation Specialist at the CCEE within UAMS Community Health and Research. Luis is a 1.5-generation immigrant, Latine evaluator who has two years of program evaluation experience in community health. He values thoughtful inquiry into systems of oppression and advocates for their abolition. His evaluation work centers on mixed-methods, culturally responsive evaluations, and community engagement. He holds a doctorate in English with a focus on multi-ethnic literature of the U.S. (MELUS) from the University of Arkansas.

Stella is an Evaluation Assistant at the Center for Community Engaged Evaluation at UAMS. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in the field of Nutrition and Health from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. In her senior year of college, she had the opportunity to work as a Healthy Food Systems Research intern. She speaks multiple languages such as French, English, Kirundi, and Kinyarwanda. Ms. Mutoni currently leads the Double Your Dollars (DYD) Program and is involved in the data management for other projects centered on improving the state of health in minority populations. She is pursuing graduate education in Healthcare Data Analytics and plans to use that knowledge in efforts of creating a more equitable society.

Albina Riklon has a master’s degree in public administration and was one of only four graduates to achieve membership at the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s 2016 Phi Alpha Alpha Honor Society. Her years of experience have led her to take on a number of projects including community-based research, community-based outreach, teaching, staff management, stakeholder engagement, and technical assistance. In 2019, she joined UAMS. From 2020 to the end of March 2023, Albina chaired and led the Translation Review Committee for all of UAMS’s Marshallese translations. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, she successfully initiated and transitioned the Marshallese Translation Review Committee from in-office to an online platform so that translation reviews could continue. In 2023, she joined the Center for Community Engaged Evaluation (CCEE) team, where she continues to make small changes and advocate for minority voices.

Rosario Silva is a bilingual program evaluator with the Office of Community Health and Research (OCHR) at UAMS. She has more than 3 years of experience evaluating programs. She holds a Master of Public Health degree from Saint Louis University with a concentration in Behavioral Science and Health Education. Ms. Silva currently leads the evaluation of the CDC Racial Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) within OCHR and the Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP), an external evaluation, housed within the Community Health and Education Division of UAMS’ Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. Ms. Silva studied public health to improve the health of minority communities and contribute towards a more equitable society where individuals can achieve optimal health.

Marissa Spear is a Senior Evaluator at the Center for Community Engaged Evaluation at UAMS Community Health and Research. She is a disabled evaluator and writer with a Bachelor of Arts in Health Equity Studies from Goucher College and a Graduate Certificate in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. She has five years of program evaluation experience in informal learning environments and community health, with a focus on charitable food systems and communities of practice. She has expertise in teaching and implementing qualitative methods and writing manuscripts for publication. Through her work, she hopes to reduce health disparities by decentralizing medical expertise and privileging the voices of those most neglected by the health care system.