For 18 years, Dr. Nancy McCrohan has been an important part of the PPA team. This month, she is leaving her position as director for healthy communities policy and retiring. In this special spotlight, we will learn about an important member of our team before she says goodbye… or maybe not, as you will see.
Hi Nancy, I would like to start by taking the wayback machine. What first drew you to evaluation as a career?
I would say it was a combination of a fascination with culture and society and frustration with persistent injustice and social problems, as well as having a weird analytic brain. I just wanted to bring all that together. I just loved data and loved reading about human psychology. I wanted to bring that to my daily life and serve humanity in my weird analytic way.
Eighteen years ago, what drew you to PPA?
I really liked how the company was growing, working on a variety of topic areas, and that it was a team-based work process. At my immediate job prior to PPA, I was the only evaluator on the team. So, I really wanted to work more in a team environment.
What are some of your special memories from your time with PPA?
All of the site visits we did for WIRED. They were really memorable just for the sheer pressure of hustling and having to crisscross all over the county or the state in one day or two days or three days, and “being on” for like 10 hours. We were working so hard but also trying to carve out time to find some really interesting places for dinner—the big respite from long days, in interesting places. Nathalie Winans and I went to the Japanese Gardens and Rose Gardens in Portland, Oregon more than once. That was amazing.
What I loved was when we would have our holiday parties at the office, which was way too small for those gatherings. It was a Friday and you start working, but you couldn’t focus on your work because when you went downstairs, you would see all of the lights and the decorations and the food. It was kind of magical, because the whole office would be transformed and then the party would descend on us. The doors were so wide open, and we brought in our families and our clients and our colleagues.
What are some projects you’re proud to have worked on?
I’ve worked on scores of projects! There are some that definitely stand out and what was great about them is we had a deep collaboration with the client and clear mission of what we were going to accomplish together. And when we shared the results with them, it influenced their work: tactics like how they were going to implement their programming and improve the way they serve their clients. They had a new view of how practices and policy influenced outcomes. I am also proud of helping to improve my clients’ own capacity for evaluation and evaluative thinking. I’m really proud of when they could find the value in what we were bringing and integrate it into their work. It is pretty cool. I think it’s probably never shown up on a prior [description of a completed project], but the technical assistance we’ve offered comes to my mind. It’s always part of what I do and I’m always happy when the client says they really appreciate the evaluation and want more. It is such a win! I’m thrilled to help them identify their own policies and practices that can aid their work.
I am so impressed by my clients. The policy they shape is really profound and helps people in a real personal way. For example, my clients are helping people be better housed; helping people get better mental health services; and helping people get food, access to food, and healthier food. It is really tremendous what they do. I loved being a part of that.
It is hard for us to say goodbye to you. While you are leaving as the director, will you still be part of the PPA team in some way?
I keep saying I’m not very good at letting go, so I plan to stay on as a consultant. Here’s the thing: When visitors come to my town, I tend to provide them a personally curated community development tour… whether they want it or not. And I drive them all over town and I point out the developments, and I point out services. I talk about the infrastructure and how the roads need to be better and/or how things have improved, that sort of thing. I’m not even on duty and I can’t stop talking about it, so I am hoping there may be more projects in my future that focus on community development, including housing, food, and public health. And I still want to build geothermal greenhouses. So, that is still on the books!
Any plans in place as you start retirement?
I do plan to do some international travel. I’m also looking forward to finding new ways to serve my community and humanity, other than research. I want to do more leveraging of the right side of my brain for more creative endeavors such as poetry. I’ve been writing since I was about 10-years old. I feel like the world is open to me in terms of creative endeavors, and that brings opportunity for a different kind of impact. I have some wisdom to impart, and I hope it comes out in poetry.
Any last words about PPA?
You know, PPA is an evolving organism. I’ve seen a lot here. I’ve seen a lot come and go, but what’s absolutely consistent, from beginning to end, are the people who come and work here. Each person has brought a deep, deep dedication to quality work. There are a lot of layers to it, such as integrity and accuracy and quality writing.
I was reflecting on the fact that quality is one of our core values. And it’s really effortless because every single person is so dedicated to it already that it is just embedded in our DNA. We love quality and we just care deeply about doing a good job and making sure that we are producing something that is accurate and intentionally useful.
The culture of PPA is always evolving, like every culture. I think this is the best culture we’ve ever had here. Yeah, right now the living, breathing PPA is perhaps the best culture we’ve had. We should make it a tagline—we don’t do drama, we do quality!
Thank you for speaking with us today, Nancy. We look forward to hearing about your travels and reading your poetry!