Our Story
We founded Marigold Evaluation in 2022 because we wanted to address a pattern we observed in many organizations: they were doing extraordinary work and collecting evaluation data but not fully using their findings.
The evidence was there. The connection to what came next was missing.
We believed the organizations we wanted to serve deserved both rigorous evaluation and the strategic thinking that makes evaluation useful. A strategic evaluation: integrating evidence-building with the planning and decision-making that puts findings to use could bring more value to organizations.
Between us, we bring more than 50 years of experience in program evaluation, applied research, social policy, international development, and organizational strategy — across nonprofit organizations, public agencies, universities, foundations, and federally funded programs. That experience shapes everything we do, from how we design data collection to how we facilitate the conversations where findings become decisions.
How we work
You are the expert on your program’s goals, your community, and your context. We bring the methodology, the questions, and the analytical rigor. Together, we develop a picture of impact that is honest, layered, and useful — one that speaks to your funder, your board, and the people you serve.
When the evaluation is done, we don’t hand you a report and disappear. We stay at the table to help you figure out what the findings mean for your next year, your next grant, or your next phase of growth.
Meet the team
Marigold Evaluation is led by two people who have spent their careers at the intersection of evidence and action. Between them, Tora and Rekha bring more than 50 years of experience in evaluation, applied research, social policy, international development, and organizational strategy—across nonprofit organizations, public agencies, universities, foundations, and federally funded programs. They founded Marigold in 2022 because they believed the organizations they wanted to serve deserved both rigorous evaluation and the strategic thinking that makes evaluation useful. That belief is still the center of every engagement.
Dr. Victoria Frank (Tora)
Tora Frank has spent her career asking what it actually takes to make evidence useful — in addition to rigorous. Her work in program evaluation and strategic planning, across education and human services, is grounded in the belief that findings matter most when they shape what an organization does next.
At Marigold, Tora designs evaluations and facilitates strategic planning processes that keep community voice at the center of both. She holds a PhD in Social Welfare from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she received an IES pre-doctoral fellowship and teaches social policy. Her peer-reviewed research has examined postsecondary access, student parent success, and community college outcomes.
Rekha Shukla
Rekha Shukla came to evaluation through the field. Before she was designing studies and interpreting findings, she was managing international programs in Southeast Asia, financing affordable housing in New York City, and doing field research in India. That background shapes how she approaches evaluation: with an eye for what communities experience that numbers alone don’t capture.
At Marigold, Rekha leads federal evaluation work across the Department of Education, NIH, and State Department — and brings that same rigor to foundations and nonprofits whose work deserves the same quality of evidence. She holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
