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Melanie LaForce
Social psychologist, equity researcher
Melanie LaForce is a seasoned professional with fifteen years of experience in education research and evaluation, specializing in education policy.
She is renowned for her work as the creator of integrated STEM education policy development and benchmarks at local, state, and international levels, emphasizing equity and social psychology.
Melanie excels in strategic planning, rigorous research methods, innovative research design, and effective communication to ensure the usability of her findings for ongoing collaborative initiatives.
As the principal investigator of The STEM School Study (S3) funded by the National Science Foundation and the USE Alliance partnership, she has a proven track record of leading impactful research initiatives.
Her expertise includes policy development, social psychology, equity, integrated STEM education, strategic planning, rigorous quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, implementation research, targeted and personalized research, and program evaluation.
Melanie LaForce holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and a Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in Social Psychology from Loyola University Chicago.
Currently, Melanie serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Principal Investigator at Laforce Research, building on her prior experiences as a Senior Consultant at Bridge To English, Stem Education Research Director at Mission Measurement, Adjunct Faculty at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and in various roles at The University of Chicago.
Apart from her professional achievements, Melanie has also been involved as a Skater and Trainer at Windy City Rollers and as a Research Analyst at Chicago Public Schools.
Highlights
STEM NOLA creates an ecosystem of support for students in pre-kindergarten through college - particularly low-income youth of color - to explore and build STEM skills with increasing complexity and intensity. They are working to raise $100k today and are SO CLOSE. If you've got a few bucks, please send them along.
I love this! Fascinating work by Susie Wise (based in-part on the work of Camille Farrington). Design for Belonging in your community, organization, or school - relevant to my friends in ed, ux, and interior design.
