Vanessa Sacks, M.P.P., is a Research Scientist II in the Youth Development research area at Child Trends. Ms. Sacks has more than 12 years of experience evaluating child and youth programming and policies using a range of analytic methods and evaluation designs. She also works with non-profit and government organizations to use data to improve their programs and establish or refine their continuous quality improvement (CQI) efforts. Her work studies the factors that support and prevent youth from achieving economic wellbeing, and interventions aimed at addressing those factors. In recent years, she has led evaluation, CQI, and technical assistance projects focused on young adult employment, college and career readiness, school behavioral health, and out-of-school time programs.