Welcome to the newest members of the GPL team

We’re thrilled to be joined by new fellows and project leaders this year. Read more about the exciting new faces at the GPL.

Ana Billingsley, Project Leader

Ana is a Project Leader for the Government Performance Lab’s criminal justice work in Harris County, Texas. Ana previously served as the Director of Workforce Development at the New York City Department of Correction (NYCDOC), where she worked with non-profit and education stakeholders to create employment and reentry programming for young adults on Rikers Island. While at NYCDOC Ana oversaw the implementation of a Federal Second Chance Act grant to develop green technology job training for 140 medium to high-risk sentenced adults, and worked to increase access to programming for incarcerated women by creating and leading an interagency gender-responsivity workgroup. Prior to working at NYCDOC, Ana worked as a research assistant at the Center for Court Innovation (CCI) where she conducted qualitative interviews withjustice-involved men as part of a national evaluation of adult reentry courts and a community needs and impact assessment. Ana holds a BA in Africana Studies from the Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College and a Master in Public Affairs from Princeton University.

Devashish Chandra, Innovation Fellow

Dev is a Government Innovation Fellow with the Department of Health and Human Services, Michigan. He is currently working on improving foster care outcomes for children in Michigan. Dev is a Masters in Public Policy (MPP)'19 graduate from Harvard Kennedy School. He is originally from Uttarakhand, a state in North India. Prior to HKS, Dev worked in the public sector in India. His last job was with the Department of Education, Govt. of Rajasthan. At HKS, Dev focussed on behavioral economics and his Masters' thesis was on 'Applying Behavioral Science to boost voter turnout in the US'. Besides behavioral econ, Dev loves thinking about tech & product management and its intersection with public policy, and sees multiple synergies between the two disciplines.  He worked with the OECD on an ed-tech project last year. Overall, he is interested in seeing the global policy professionals 'community of practice' evolve and acknowledges the role organizations like GPL can play in it. Apart from public policy, Dev has a keen interest in cinema studies. 

Colin Erhardt, Innovation Fellow

Colin Erhardt is a Government Innovation Fellow working with the State of Connecticut on using contracting and procurement to improve performance. He recently completed his Master of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he worked on government innovation projects with the cities of Boston, Hartford, and Winthrop. He also served as a Mayoral Fellow for the City of Chicago. Prior to graduate school, Colin worked as an IT consultant for IBM, a chief of staff for a criminal justice non-profit, and a governance associate for a professional services firm seeking to prevent the repeat of another financial crisis. He holds a BA in Political Science from Boston College.

Madeline Goldie, Innovation Fellow

Madeline Goldie is a Government Innovation Fellow with the Government Performance Lab, supporting the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to provide the right placement array for children in state care. Previously, Madeline was an advisor for the Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet where she worked with policy teams across government to develop submissions to the Cabinet, and ensure executive government was supported to make informed decisions. Madeline also has experience as a public policy consultant, designing market settings for employment services providers, and advising the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development on the development of a private market for aged care in emerging economies. Madeline holds an MPA in Economic and Public Policy from the London School of Economics, and a BA(Honours) in Political Science from the Australian National University.

Lindsay Graef, Innovation Fellow

Lindsay is a Government Innovation Fellow working on criminal justice projects in Harris County, Texas. She is currently working with the County’s Pretrial Services Agency on innovations to improve pretrial supports and services. Prior to joining the GPL, Lindsay worked as a case manager at a juvenile probation camp in Los Angeles and assisted the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors with criminal justice reform projects. Before attending graduate school, she spent two years in Indonesia as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant and worked at a non-profit organization that serves immigrants and refugees in her hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. Lindsay received dual master’s degrees in Social Welfare and Public Policy from UCLA.

Aaron Hirsh, Innovation Fellow

Aaron is a Government Innovation Fellow with the New Hampshire Division of Children, Youth and Families. He helps agency leaders strategically use data to improve outcomes across a range of social services. Prior to joining the GPL, Aaron was a high school teacher in Boston and instructor at the National Outdoor Leadership School. Aaron holds an M.Ed from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in political science from Carleton College. 

Adam Schaffer, Innovation Fellow

Adam Schaffer is a Government Innovation Fellow at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance. At A&F, he is working on implementing results-driven contracting in homelessness services and supporting the state’s Pay for Success initiatives. Before joining the Government Performance Lab, he was a Program Officer at the Washington Office on Latin America, where he worked to promote human rights and criminal justice reform in Latin America. Adam holds a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a BA in Political Science and Spanish from Middlebury College.

Gabriela Solis, Innovation Fellow

Gabriela Solis is a Government Innovation Fellow in Texas with the Harris County Sherriff’s Office. She is currently working to improve the County’s diversion and pre-arrest services to reduce jail usage and subsequent justice system involvement. Gabriela recently earned a Master of Social Welfare and Master of Public Policy from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Prior to the GPL, Gabriela worked with the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative to conduct data research to help advance advocacy efforts pertaining to critical domestic policy issues affecting communities of color and served as Co-Director of Case Management for Bruin Shelter, a shelter for college students experiencing homelessness. Gabriela also holds a BA in Gender Studies and Sociology from UCLA.