Alumni Update: Carolina De La Rosa Mateo
Carolina De La Rosa Mateo, a Research and Training Center on Community Living (RTC-CL) Diversity Fellow from 2018-19, is now an associate evaluator at Professional Data Analysts (PDA), a Minneapolis evaluation and statistical consulting firm. She primarily supports state-based evaluations of tobacco cessation and chronic disease programs, work that she says benefits from her time as a fellow.
“Being a Diversity Fellow informed my lens on equity and inclusion,” said De La Rosa Mateo, who completed a Master of Public Health degree at the University of Minnesota in 2019. “In my evaluation work, it’s important to incorporate different perspectives so we understand the needs and motivations in our communities. We work collaboratively with our clients to pick the best evaluation design for their context, and we want them to find the results useful and beneficial to their programs so they can better meet the needs of the communities they serve.”
As a fellow, she worked with La Red Latina de Educación Temprana (The Latino Early Childcare Provider Network) to conduct a workshop on disability that gave caregivers information on how to become advocates for the children in their care.
ICI's RTC-CL received funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to launch a diversity fellowship for five fellows in 2018 to build knowledge about disability in community organizations serving diverse and/or underrepresented families, to further ICI’s own efforts to support underserved people, and to expand the diversity of its staff and stakeholders.
“Carolina did a fabulous job bridging the expertise of other Diversity Fellows – La Red leaders, Ruth Evangelista and Faviola Estrada – with ICI’s early intervention autism resources,” said Rebecca Dosch Brown, RTC-CL education specialist. “I'm confident Carolina will continue to apply her strong talents in culturally-responsive evaluation and community outreach to ensure that every community she collaborates with will be respected and heard.”