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NORC at the University Chicago

Margaret Hargreaves

Pronouns: She/Her

Senior Fellow
Health Care Evaluation
Affiliate Staff
Center on Equity Research

Meg is recognized for her methodological expertise evaluating systems change initiatives addressing complex social issues.

Margaret (Meg) Hargreaves is a senior fellow at NORC, recognized for her methodological expertise conducting systems and complexity science-informed evaluations (SCIE) of equitable systems transformation initiatives. Topics include early child development, k-12 education, health systems and population health, criminal justice reform, climate change, building collective capacity, economic mobility, and other determinants of health and well-being. She has written journal articles and methods guides on planning systems change evaluations, rapid evaluations of complex initiatives, and integrating ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ systems evaluation methods. She worked with community coalitions to create valid, evidence-based measures of collective capacity, and with colleagues to create the Equitable Systems Change Evaluation framework.

Among current projects, Meg directs the implementation, outcome, and impact evaluation of the MacArthur Foundation’s Criminal Justice Big Bet, working to reduce racial and ethnic disparities and jail overuse in local justice systems. She directs the implementation, outcome, and impact evaluation of Social Current’s Texas Change in Mind Learning Collaborative, working with nonprofit organizations to embed brain development science and racial equity principles at into their programs, organizations, and community systems. She directed an international team to design the evaluation of the World Bank Group’s Climate Investment Fund’s financial strategies to initiate transformational change toward low-carbon, climate resilient development. She recently directed the implementation and outcome evaluation of the Walton Family Foundation’s Catalytic Communities initiative, working to identify effective community organizing and capacity building models for facilitating transformative k-12 education systems change. She also consults with foundations to improve their systems change evaluation practices. 

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Expertise

Education

PhD

Union Institute and University

MPP

Harvard Kennedy School

BA

Carleton College

Honors & Awards

Marcia Guttentag Promising New Evaluator Award | 2011

American Evaluation Association

Health Disparities Doctoral Dissertation Scholarship | 2004-2005

Minnesota Department of Health

Appointments & Affiliations

Member, The Evaluation Policy Task Force

American Evaluation Association

Chair, The Systems in Evaluation Topical Interest Group (SETIG)

American Evaluation Association

Project Contributions

MacArthur Safety & Justice Challenge Evaluation

Evaluation of the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge to reduce jail populations across the U.S.

Client:

MacArthur Foundation

Catalytic Communities Initiative Evaluation

Assessing strategies to transform educational communities to benefit K-12 students

Client:

Walton Family Foundation

Publications

Research Library & Findings