Renatta DeFever

Renatta is a Senior Associate in the Workforce and Human Services Division. She is a mixed methods researcher with strong quantitative training and expertise in designing and conducting implementation, outcome, and impact evaluations for local, state, and federal governments as well as non-profit partners and foundations and nonprofits. She is passionate about learning how organizations implement programs and policies that support positive and equitable outcomes among those who experience systemic barriers to employment and educational attainment.

Renatta brings 20 years of research methods experience managing, collecting and analyzing complex administrative and survey datasets as well as quantitative data from interviews and focus groups. She has content expertise on programmatic supports developed to improve the educational and workforce trajectories of English Learners, immigrants, women, and low-income populations.

Renatta is a first-generation immigrant originally from Mexico who is fluent in Spanish. She holds a Ph.D. in School Organization and Education Policy from University of California Davis and an M.A. in Political Science from San Francisco State University. In her spare time, she enjoys learning French and hiking.