Heather Gordon

Heather Gordon is a managing consultant and a certified project management professional with extensive project operations expertise. She has conducted qualitative research and technical assistance that support program evaluation and improvement for the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Administration for Children and Families (ACF).

Gordon is the deputy project director for the Researching Provider Solutions project with the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council. This project will generate evidence about how people with developmental disabilities can attract and retain direct care support to meet their personal care needs while living in the community. Gordon is leading the work group to engage policymakers and incorporate the lived experience of self-advocates, parents, and caregivers of people with developmental disabilities throughout the project. Before joining this project, Gordon was the deputy project director for the Promoting Opportunity Demonstration (POD) Evaluation. She provided strategic operations support to oversee the project, manage data and security requirements, and communicate across project partners and the SSA. Gordon also analyzed interviews and co-wrote a brief on the lived experiences of 72 POD treatment group members to share insights on how changes to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program might affect beneficiaries. The POD Evaluation, sponsored by SSA, was a randomized controlled trial with over 10,000 participants that tested simplified work incentives and a benefit offset in the SSDI program.

Gordon was the operations lead for ACF’s Strengthening the Implementation of Marriage and Relationship Programs (SIMR) project, which aims to improve family and child well-being by enhancing the implementation of healthy marriage and relationship education programs. In this role, she analyzed the timelines, staffing, and costs incurred to ensure the project produced high-quality deliverables on schedule and within budget. Gordon also used the Learn, Innovate, Improve framework as the liaison to two grantees on the SIMR rapid cycle learning team, which enabled grantees to make evidence-based decisions about program improvement.

Gordon holds an M.A. in international commerce and policy from George Mason University.