The Center for Evaluation Innovation is thrilled to announce our incoming Executive Director: Dr. Hanh Cao Yu!
Effective October 1, 2024, Hanh will lead all aspects of CEI’s efforts in partnering with philanthropy to provide changemakers the space and resources needed to advance racial justice and create an equitable future.
Hanh’s career has spanned the research, evaluation, and philanthropy sectors. She brings almost 30 years of experience in racial equity and social change philanthropy, leadership development, organizational effectiveness, policy advocacy evaluation, community organizing, and working with vulnerable populations.
Over the last year, Hanh has served as editor-in-chief of special issues for The Foundation Review, where she has overseen the 15th anniversary issue publications and led a strategic assessment and reimagination of this peer-reviewed journal with an equity focus. Prior to that, Hanh spent seven years as Chief Learning Officer at The California Endowment (TCE) where she led the foundation’s learning, strategy development, and evaluation efforts. Before joining TCE, Hanh spent 20 years with Social Policy Research Associates, a nationally recognized research, evaluation, and technical assistance firm.
During her tenure at TCE, Hanh authored and oversaw numerous publications about the foundation’s experiences with power building to advance racial and health equity, including Philanthropic Investment in People Power and a special in-depth series on Building People Power in Stanford Social Innovation Review. She was also instrumental in lifting up TCE’s strategy and evaluation experiences with its 10-year Building Healthy Communities initiative through a written teaching case and video teaching case developed for CEI’s Evaluation Roundtable network.
Hanh is a widely recognized national leader on philanthropic learning and evaluation, and has served on the board of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, as an Ambassador for the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project, and on the National Academy of Science’s Roundtable on Population Health Improvement. Hanh holds a Ph.D. in Education Administration and Policy Analysis from Stanford University and a B.S. in Business and Finance Economics from the University of Southern California.
“I am absolutely delighted that Hanh will be CEI’s next leader,” said founder and outgoing Executive Director, Julia Coffman. “As a sector visionary with a persistent focus on what is possible in our sector, Hanh is a perfect choice to lead CEI’s next chapter.”
Board chair David Devlin-Foltz added, “We enthusiastically welcome Hanh to CEI and look forward to supporting her vision and leadership at this important time in the organization’s evolution.”
As we move into our next chapter, we want to thank our:
- Board of directors, for stewarding this process;
- Founder and outgoing leader, Julia Coffman, for her vision, guidance, and unending encouragement;
- Search firm, NPAG, for their support in our candidate search process;
- Network (that’s you!), for your encouragement and guidance;
- Team, for remaining patient amidst transition and imagining what was possible for our organization.