Julia Coffman

Special Advisor, Cause Communications

Julia Coffman is an evaluation and strategy consultant to nonprofit organizations and foundations. Her expertise is with theory-of-change approaches to evaluation, and her approach emphasizes real-time learning that helps organizations adapt their strategies and continuously improve.

Julia has particular expertise in the evaluation of advocacy, policy change and communications efforts, and she researches, writes about and practices evaluation in these areas.

For the past 12 years Julia has worked with the Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP), a research and evaluation organization at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. HFRP helps foundations, nonprofits and policymakers develop and evaluate strategies to promote the well being of children, youth, families and their communities. Julia leads HFRP’s evaluation work, which includes conducting evaluations of foundation-funded initiatives and publishing The Evaluation Exchange, a nationally renowned periodical on emerging evaluation strategies and issues.

Julia is co-chair of the American Evaluation Association’s Advocacy and Policy Change Topical Interest Group and a member of The Advertising Council’s Research Advisory Committee. She is based in the Washington, D.C. area.