Mission and Values

Dogwood works with nonprofits, K–Higher Education organizations, governments, and foundations to demonstrate their impact through rigorous evaluation and audience-specific reporting and enhance their impact through data-driven organizational development, strategic planning, and grant writing.

Our Approach

Curiosity

We are driven to learn. Our approach is rooted in the enthusiastic, non-judgmental desire to know more.

Collaboration

We are active partners. Our goal is to learn more about you, your goals, and collaborate with you to help you answer your questions.

Communication

We listen. We share information. We establish communication plans that include preferences, methods, and timelines to effectively and accurately exchange information.

Working With Us

Justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion—We are driven by positive societal impact.

Our goals are to:

Seek equity by recognizing historical and systemic racial, gender, sexuality, ability, religious, ethnic, and language-based inequality,

Increase diversity and facilitate inclusion by amplifying and making space for the voices and participation of underrepresented groups, and

Take action to create a more just society through the provision of critical, equity-focused, and inclusive evaluation, organizational development and reporting.

Message from the President:

Dogwood founder Ross Whiting with a friendly expression sitting on a couch in an office.

I founded Dogwood Consulting in 2023 after more than a decade working in research, evaluation, and organizational development in higher education with an intent to provide information to organizations to positively impact people, processes, and policy. My strength is in collecting and translating data, and collaboratively designing and implementing grant writing, change, and reporting strategies. I also have developed the unique ability to blend hard data with the narratives of individuals to ensure that information is not only thorough, but also understood at a human level.

I want to support organizations that serve people. The core of my work is in the field of education with a focus on student, family and educator mental, social, and emotional wellbeing, and equity and inclusion in education. I also have more than a decade of experience leading evaluations across public affairs areas including social services, public and population health, and criminal justice and have developed partnerships with content experts to ensure we are incorporating the most current knowledge and rigorous methods across those fields.

I founded Dogwood Consulting to be a catalyst for progress and to provide proof and support of our partners' dedication to making the world a better place. I appreciate you taking the time to learn more about our work, and hope we have the opportunity to collaborate with you to drive changefor good.

With boundless optimism and curiosity,

Ross Whiting, Ph.D.
President and Founder, Dogwood Consulting, Inc.

Contributors and Partners

Kelly McGinn, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Human Development and Community Engagement Program Coordinator, Co-Direct, Center for Assessment, Evaluation, and Education Policy Analysis, Temple University

Dr. Kelly McGinn is an assistant professor in the Psychological Studies in Education department at Temple University. She also serves as program coordinator of the Human Development and Community Engagement program and co-director of the Center for Assessment, Evaluation and Education Policy Analysis. She earned her doctoral degree in educational psychology at Temple University. Dr. McGinn’s research focuses broadly on the application of cognitive science principles to inform how we teach. Specifically, she is interested in the development of mathematics conceptual knowledge. Furthermore, Dr. McGinn specializes in the evaluation of education-based nonprofits and organizations, with a special interest in STEM-based programs.

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Elena Ragusa, Ph.D.

Founder and CEO, Drive Evaluation Studio • Assistant Professor, Rutgers University

Elena was the senior executive director of enrollment strategy and analytics for Rutgers University–New Brunswick, where her work focused on using data to design and execute collaborative strategies to enroll, retain, and graduate a diverse and accomplished student body.

Prior to that, she designed, managed, and directed research and evaluation efforts for the University’s college access and K–12 program portfolio.

And before her 10 years at Rutgers, she served as a project manager at OMG Center for Collaborative Learning (now Equal Measure) — a national research and evaluation consulting firm based in Philadelphia, PA.

Elena makes the connection between theory and practice in the classroom, working with undergraduate and graduate students and teaching psychology, research methods, program evaluation, community psychology, and organizational psychology.

As a first-generation college student turned advocate for educational access, Elena has also worked as a youth mentor and tutor and as a counselor at a community youth center.

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Adam Alvarez, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Urban Education, College of Education, Rowan University

Prior to working in higher ed, Dr. Alvarez was an elementary teacher for 6 years (2008–2014) at a residential psychiatric treatment facility where he taught youth from diverse racial, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds and who had various experiences with trauma. In his work as a researcher, he explores the intersection of race, violence, trauma, and healing in and around school contexts. His scholarship contributes to a growing body of theory and research concerned with enhancing the lives and school experiences for youth. Dr. Alvarez’s work has been featured in the field's most prestigious peer reviewed journals such as Equity and Excellence in Education, Educational Researcher, and Review of Educational Research. Additionally, he is the 2021 recipient of the American Educational Research Association’s Review of Research Award for his influential work on the intersection of race and trauma.

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Elisa DiLolle, Ed.D.

CED Recruitment and Retention Specialist, Projects IMPACT and ROPES Program Coordinator, College of Education, Rowan University

Dr. Elisa Di Lolle spent over 20 years in P-12 school districts in various teaching, counseling, and leadership roles. She is currently working in Higher Education at Rowan University. As a first-generation college student, Dr. Di Lolle considers herself a lifelong learner and is grateful for her experience as an Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) student during her undergraduate program. She earned her Bachelor's degree from Rutgers University with a Major in Urban Studies and Teacher preparation. She completed her Master's degree in School Counseling at Wilmington University. She attended Gwynedd Mercy University for her Doctoral degree in Educational Leadership with a concentration in Special/Inclusive Education. Her doctoral dissertation focused on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs); it connected how trauma can impact Learning, Behavior, and Special Education classification rates and how schools can better support students by creating safe spaces and places through quality professional development and special training.

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