OUR TEAM
LEAVING A WORLD LEGACY
MEET OUR TEAM
Administration
Traci Shirachi
CEO/President
Vanderbilt University
University of California, Davis
Traci Shirachi is the CEO/President of The Mark USA, Inc. She is responsible for making key business decisions for the company to increase The Mark’s abilities to address principal investigator (“PI”) needs, and help to continue to expand and grow the company. Traci works with all the evaluators within the organization to deliver rigorous work and quality client service. Traci has over 17 years of work experience with consulting companies of various sizes, including PricewaterhouseCoopers. She received a B.A. in political science at the University of California, Davis, and an M.B.A. from Vanderbilt University.
Yu Zhang
Assistant Director
Indiana University
University of Maryland
Peking University
Dr. Zhang received her PhD in Public Affairs from Indiana University Bloomington School of Public and Environmental Affairs and MPA in Public Policy from University of Maryland College Park School of Public Policy. She has extensive research experience in environmental and energy issues by using both quantitative and qualitative methods, such as survey designs, focus group, experimental and quasi-experimental designs. Yu has been involved with large public opinion studies of emerging energy technologies both in the U.S. and China. Her interests are environmental and energy focused program evaluation, public opinion studies and outcome evaluation. She earned her dual BA degrees from Peking University, China in Urban Management and Economics.
Jessica Martone
Director of Research and Evaluation
Loyola University Chicago
Dr. Martone received her PhD and her MSW from Loyola University Chicago’s School of Social Work. Jessica was a research fellow and is currently a research affiliate for the Institute for Migration and International Social Work. Jessica has been involved with immigration and education focused research projects. Prior to The Mark, Jessica was an adjunct faculty member at Loyola University Chicago teaching undergraduate and graduate level social work courses. In addition she worked as a consultant conducting research and evaluation.
Senior Evaluators
Aubrey Roy
Senior Evaluator
University of Oxford
University of California, Irvine
Aubrey Roy received her M.S. in Sociology from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom where she specialized in quantitative methods and focused the effects of macro-level education spending on the profession of teaching. She also received her B.A. in Sociology and Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from University of California, Irvine. Prior to The Mark, Aubrey worked in trial and political consulting where she used both qualitative and quantitative methods.
Harisharan Luintel
Senior Evaluator
Portland State University
Tribhuwan University, Nepal
Dr. Luintel received his PhD in Environmental Science, Management and Policy from Portland State University. He worked over 20 years in research, policy analysis, program/project evaluation, teaching, and capacity building in the field of natural resource management, environmental sustainability, and education in South Asia and the US. His research includes elucidating implications of national and international environmental, educational, and developmental policies and programs. Some of his notable research include monitoring performance of donor-funded forestry and livelihood programs in Nepal, assessing impact of Nepal’s community forestry programs, exploring potential implication of international climate change policy in developing countries, examining impact of different curricular strategies on educational performance in the US, and identifying implication of educational inputs on students’ knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy and workforce development in the US. He takes interdisciplinary approaches and uses robust quantitative and qualitative methods in his research/evaluation. He has authored/co-authored dozens of peer-reviewed papers, research reports, book chapters, policy briefs, and discussion papers that have been widely cited and used for policy/program review. He has been serving as an editor for the Journal of Forest and Livelihood and reviewer for several journals. Through these experiences, he developed professional interest and competency working in wide range of socio-economic, cultural, and developmental contexts collaboratively and independently.
Joshua Yuen Penman
Senior Evaluator
Claremont Graduate University
Biola University
University of Oxford
Mr. Penman has a background in international development, management consulting, and intercultural competency development, and holds a Master’s degree in Evaluation and Organizational Psychology from Claremont Graduate University. Joshua’s professional focus is tighter integration of evaluation, program theory, and process improvement that lead to innovations in cost-effective evaluation. He has conducted applied research and evaluation in education, environmentally friendly construction technology, and startups. Prior to The Mark, Josh led national and international projects at the intersection of health and media.
Kartik Jha
Senior Evaluator
University of Arizona
Claremont Graduate University
Mr. Jha earned his M.A. in Organizational Behavior Psychology and Evaluation from Claremont Graduate University and his B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Japanese from the University of Arizona. His evaluation interests are focused on program evaluation with the goal of linking objectives to outcomes and improving educational projects that help underserved students receive access to college education. His previous work experiences include assisting on various types of evaluations, needs assessments, and organizational development.