Pathfinder Evaluation and Consulting

Our Company

who we are

 

Pathfinder Evaluation and Consulting was founded in 2003 as a woman-owned research and evaluation firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Jan Noga, founder and owner, is our permanent staff member. Depending on your needs, we can tap into a network of independent contractors in Ohio and across the United States to assemble a team that is right for your project.

 

 

Qualifications

 

Jan Noga holds an M.Ed in Instructional Design and Technology from the University of Cincinnati and a BA in developmental and counseling psychology from Stanford University. She has worked in the non-profit and public sectors in human services and education for more than 30 years in roles spanning teaching, research, policy, and program planning and evaluation.


Her experience includes: teaching in early childhood, professional, and university settings; more than twenty years’ research and project development experience in university and government settings, including the Hoover Institute and the New York State Appalachian Regional Commission program; and 15 years’ evaluation experience coordinating projects at both the local and state level.


As a program evaluator, she views her role as one of guide and experienced resource for building capacity in data collection, interpretation, and use. She believes it is critical to provide support for clients to help them understand how the data and information they collect contributes to the conclusions that are shaped regarding the effectiveness and impact of a program.


As a teacher, she believes that learning is most durable when participants engage in tasks that encourage them to put learning into a personal context, question their own understanding, connect new learning to their personal and professional lives, and identify how such learning is useful and relevant. She also believes that play, through the use of toys and art, is the best way to free the mind to embrace new learning.


Jan's areas of expertise include:

  • PK-12 education
  • Human services - particularly community development, child welfare, and integrated service delivery
  • Systems thinking
  • Systems change
  • Methods and techniques for research and evaluation