Dr. Emily (Li) Cheng, the senior data analyst at the Institute for Educational Leadership. She has a Ph.D. in public policy and administration and a master’s certificate in applied statistics. She also has a professional certificate in Result-Based Accountability (RBA). At IEL, Dr. Cheng supports data-related work, research, and strategic planning. Meanwhile, she oversees internal and external data capacity building, program evaluation, and impact analysis. Dr. Cheng is also the leading author of the IEL Annual Youth Transition Reports and the interactive youth transition data tool and one of the co-authors of the Youth Voice in Community Schools Guide and protocols. Before joining IEL, Dr. Cheng led a project to analyze the gap between academic training and job requirements for the FAA Center of Excellence for Technical Training and Human Performance (TTHP); managed a state-funded college mentoring program that was launched for academically and economically disadvantaged high school seniors and first-year college students; and prepared an annual accreditation data report for NASPAA, a global accreditor of master’s degree programs in public policy, public affairs, public administration, and public & nonprofit management. She joined IEL in 2019 and wanted to advance people’s ability to use data to improve community-level equity trajectories.

Areas of expertise: Youth Engagement/Leadership, Leadership Development and Capacity Building, Program Design/Implementation/Support, Event Planning and Logistics, Disability Inclusion, Racial Justice, Youth Development, Data-informed Decision Making, Data Capacity Building