Career reflections from an evidence leader: An interview with Naomi Goldstein, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Episode #200

To celebrate our 200^th interview, we are joined by one of the most respected people within the evidence and evaluation field, Dr. Naomi Goldstein, to share reflections on her 21-year career at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Human Services.

Dr. Goldstein (@NaomiGoldstein1) is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning, Research, and Evaluation at ACF. She will retire from federal service this week after a 21-year tenure at ACF, including becoming Director of the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in 2004 and Deputy Assistant Secretary in 2015. Beyond those important career achievements, it is her kindness, humility, candor and commitment — and, I would add, all with a sense of humor — that have made her such a valued colleagued and friend to so many over the years.

A transcript of our conversation is available here.

Learn more:

• Recent OPRE blog post by Dr. Goldstein: “How Do I Love My Job? Let Me Count the Ways“
• Previous podcast interviews:
  • Why evaluation policies are useful to results-focused federal agencies (with Molly Irwin)
  • Strengthening evaluation capacity within agencies