Valerie Thompson, Ph.D.

Valerie Thompson holds a Ph.D. in Behavioral Psychology and a master’s in health education. Valerie’s professional background is in health promotion, prevention, applied research, and evaluation. She has experience supporting community-engaged research and evaluation across areas including youth violence prevention, positive youth development, public health, and early childhood literacy. Her background includes designing evaluation frameworks, developing data collection systems, and providing evaluation technical support to partners with varying levels of research and evaluation experience. Valerie works to make data, documentation, and evaluation processes accessible and useful for academic, professional, and community partners. Grounded in a dedication to public service, civic engagement, and shared responsibility for strengthening communities, she brings a strong commitment to community-engaged scholarship, shared accountability, and using data to tell meaningful stories about community change, partnership, and impact.