PeiYao Chen

Education: BS: National Taiwan University, in Psychology, PhD: CUNY Graduate Center, in Psychology
Service Expertise: evaluation

PeiYao Chen is the Associate Director of Evaluation at TCC Group. Chen has more than ten years of experience in research and evaluation in the nonprofit sector, with a strong focus on education, youth development, and grassroots activism. Since joining TCC in 2008, Chen has worked with foundations and nonprofit organizations on a wide range of evaluation projects, including evaluation of social service programs and capacity building initiatives, organizational assessment, and training workshops and technical assistance to build nonprofit evaluation capacity. Recent and current work includes developing an evaluation curriculum for The California Endowment, evaluation of a long-term capacity-building initiative for the Deaconess Foundation, evaluation of college prep programs for the Gap Foundation, the Educational Alliance, and 10,000 Degrees, the Packard Foundation Goldmine research project, and evaluation of Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership's Japan America Societies Initiative.

Before joining TCC Group, Chen worked as a Research Analyst for Girls Incorporated. During this time, she conducted both qualitative and quantitative research with girls to learn about their lives and issues they are facing in their communities. She led a team of national staff to create and implement a national evaluation system to assist affiliates in measuring outcomes and improving the effectiveness of Girls Inc. programs. Her responsibilities included designing and evaluating surveys, analyzing national and local data, writing and disseminating research and evaluation findings, and developing and conducting training workshops for program staff on various research and evaluation topics. In addition to quantitative research, Chen designed and implemented a participatory evaluation project that engages teens as researchers in exploring the meaning and impacts of Girls Inc. environments.

Prior to Girls Inc., Chen held positions in various large-scale research and evaluation projects, including the Ms. Foundation for Women — Healthy Girl/Healthy Women Collaborative and the Girls' Reflection and Evaluation Project for the Global Fund for Women. Chen received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from National Taiwan University and her doctorate in Psychology from CUNY Graduate Center. Her dissertation focused on workers' grassroots activism in New York City Chinatown.

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