• Social equity

• Policy analysis and program evaluation

• Research methods

Evans' research focuses on public and nonprofit policy analysis and program evaluation through a lens of social equity. Overarching themes in Evans' research include designing and examining social equity initiatives and her research to date has evaluated programs and policies aimed at eliminating disparities in the public and nonprofit sectors. 

Evans’ current research projects focus on equity research, evaluation, and design in Virginia’s vaccination efforts, and social equity, diversity, and inclusion in nonprofit organizations.

Accomplishments

Evans is an assistant professor of public administration and policy in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. Previously she was an assistant professor of urban and public affairs at the University of Louisville. Prior to her academic appointments, Evans was a senior research associate on a multiyear grant project funded by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, which focused on examining the practices within African American-led nonprofit organizations that most benefit the life outcomes of at-risk youths. Evans also worked as a consulting research assistant with the MDRC Achieving the Dream Initiative, where she involved in two large-scale evaluations.

Evans serves as a board member for both the Section on Public Affairs Education and the Nonprofit Section for the American Society for Public Administration and is an affiliate member of the Standing Panel for Social Equity in Governance at the National Academy for Public Administration. Evans also serves as a reviewer for a number of public administration and nonprofit journals.

Selected Publications

Gooden, Susan, Lindsey Evans, and Yali Pang. 2018. Making the Invisible Visible in Nonprofit Courses: A Case Study of African American-led Nonprofits. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 24(4): 490-517. DOI: 10.1080/15236803.2018.1488485. 

Gooden, Susan, Lindsey Evans, Michael Perkins, Caper Gooden, and Yali Pang. 2018. Examining Youth Outcomes of African American Led Nonprofits. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 46(4S): 34S-54S. DOI: 10.1177/0899764018757028

Gooden, Susan, Michael Perkins, Lindsey Evans, and Yali Pang. 2018. Similarity Attraction and Old School Values: African American Led Nonprofits and African American Youth. Journal of Public Management and Social Policy, 24(2): 41-52. https://digitalscholarship.tsu.edu/jpmsp/vol24/iss2/4/

Gooden, Susan, Kasey Martin, Lindsey Evans, and Kashea Pegram. 2017. Promoting Social Equity to Achieve the Dream at Minority Serving Institutions. In Social Equity in a Time of Change: A Critical 21st Century Social Movement, edited by R.G. Johnson, 39-66. San Diego: Birkdale Publishing.

Gooden, Susan, Kasey Martin, and Lindsey Evans. 2016. Intermediaries of Innovation in Community Colleges: Coaching in Achieving the Dream. In Innovations in the Public and Nonprofit Sector: A Public Solutions Handbook, edited by P. Lancer Julnes and E. Gibson, 224-244. New York: Routledge.