Dr. Erika Van Buren has served as a seasoned independent consultant in service to the nonprofit, philanthropic, and government sectors for over 20 years. During her professional tenure, she has cultivated expertise in the areas of capacity building, quantitative and mixed-methods research, program evaluation, program design, and performance management for human service delivery systems. Dr. Van Buren received her doctorate in clinical child psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and has dedicated her career to studying and improving community-based services for children, youth and families of Color within and across mental health, child welfare, and other public systems. In addition to her consultancy work, Dr. Van Buren most recently served as the Chief Innovation Officer at First Place for Youth, an organization based in Oakland, CA, that is nationally recognized for its focus on learning, data use, evidence generation, and the delivery of results-based care in education and employment services for transition-age foster youth. At First Place, she was responsible for leading the design, utilization, and maintenance of the organization’s performance management systems and structures, and providing leadership for the organization’s national scaling efforts. She crafted and implemented the internal and external evaluation agenda for the agency, disseminated knowledge that was leveraged for policy advocacy and reform, and worked closely with program and system leadership to identify and roll-out best and evidence-supported strategies to improve practice and the child welfare system’s impact on transition-age foster youth. As an emerging national thought leader in this space, Dr. Van Buren is a Ford Foundation Fellow, has been selected to serve as a LEAP of Reason Ambassador, and is a proud member of the 11th class of Annie E. Casey Foundation Leadership Fellows.