MDRC is pleased to announce that Naomi Goldstein and Susan Gooden have joined its Board of Directors as new members and that John King has rejoined the Board:

• Naomi Goldstein served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), from 2015 to 2022. She served as ACF’s Chief Evaluation Officer. Goldstein joined ACF in 2001 and become Director of the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation in 2004. Previously, she had directed the United States Postal Service Commission on a Safe and Secure Workplace, was a project manager for the Urban Institute’s Assessing the New Federalism project, and served in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at HHS. Earlier in her career, she worked in the Massachusetts state government and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Goldstein received a B.A. in philosophy from Yale University, a master’s in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government, and a Ph.D. in public policy from Harvard University.
• Susan T. Gooden is Dean and Professor at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is an internationally recognized expert on social equity. She is the immediate past president of the Network of Associated Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) and past president of the American Society for Public Administration. Her most recent book is Global Equity in Administration (2020). She was appointed to the Virginia Community College System board and served as board chair. She currently serves on the board of the Virginia Retirement System. Gooden earned an A.S. in natural science from Patrick Henry Community College, a B.A. in English from Virginia Tech, and an M.A. in political science from Virginia Tech. She received her doctorate from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.
• John B. King Jr. is the President of The Education Trust, a national nonprofit organization that seeks to identify and close opportunity and achievement gaps, from preschool through college. King served in President Barack Obama’s cabinet as the 10th U.S. Secretary of Education. Prior to joining the U.S. Department of Education, King was the first African American and Puerto Rican to serve as New York State Education Commissioner. He began his career in education as a high school social studies teacher in Puerto Rico and Boston and as a middle school principal. King holds a B.A. in government from Harvard University, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and an M.A. in the teaching of social studies and a doctorate in education from Teachers College at Columbia University. 

“I’m so happy to welcome Naomi and Susan to the MDRC Board and to welcome back John,” said Bridget Terry Long, Chair of the MDRC Board of Directors. “The work we will do together is important not only for MDRC but for improving social policy and advancing success in education, employment, health, and criminal justice, among other areas.”

MDRC is also saying goodbye to long-time Board member Ron Haskins, Senior Fellow Emeritus in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution.

“We are extremely grateful to Ron for his many years of dedicated service to MDRC, for his deep understanding of both the substance and the politics of policymaking, for his advocacy for the nonpartisan use of evidence, and for his wise and thoughtful counsel,” said Mary Jo Bane, Chair Emerita of the MDRC Board of Directors.