Rebecca Block

 RebeccaR. Block

Rebecca R. Block

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Biography

Daytona State College - English

Learning and Innovation Advisor
Nonprofit Organization Management
Rebecca
Block, PhD
Wynnewood, Pennsylvania
Making problems manageable, and progress measurable.

Experienced leader focused on continuous learning and innovation grounded in meaningful measures of success, data-informed decision making, and appreciative inquiry practices.

Built departments from scratch, managed small and large teams, and navigated a variety of environments (from established institutions to the innovative chaos of social entrepreneurship).

Skilled in Management, Communication, Assessment, Evaluation, and Research.


Experience

  • University of Louisville

    University Fellow

    Assistant Director in the Writing Center, Graduate teaching assistant (teaching courses in business and professional writing, technical and scientific writing, creative writing, and college composition), writing tutor.

  • The Future Project

    Principal Scientist

    As Principal Scientist at The Future Project, I conducted original research into thriving and success, designed and launched the org's first external evaluation in partnership with UPenn, led the creation of a multi-year evaluation strategy, and established continuous learning and improvement processes throughout the organization.

    I provided internal consulting to functional leaders on establishing effective OKRs, with a focus on what forms of data -- and processes around their use -- would accelerate successful completion of these objectives.

    In addition, I helped close over $7M in foundation grants.

  • The Future Project

    Vice President, Reseach and Evaluation

    I established the Research and Evaluation department for The Future Project, which included setting up impact evaluation, helping to secure foundation grant renewals, and generating the first statistically significant evidence of impact across all ~50 school sites.

  • The Future Project

    Vice President, Organizational Learning and Improvement

    As VP of OLI, I build capacity in leaders across the org to identify clear, measureable, & meaningful goals, and work with them using human-centered continuous improvement practices to iterate toward those goals.

    As product manager for our in-house tracking & insights software, I also support team members in using this data to inform their work while learning with them on how to improve the software. Through this process, I've brought data fidelity up by 30%. I manage a $200K budget and an array of outside contractors.

  • Self Employed

    Consultant

    I have helped clients in the non-profit, education, and small business sectors:
    -Increase capacity of management staff to lead and improve offerings via data-informed decision-making processes
    -Design custom assessment tools that simultaneously enhance student metacognition and capacity for transferring their learning while providing programmatic data on what’s working and what to improve
    -Customize best practices in change-management and distributed decision making
    -Turn complex, seemingly overwhelming problems into discrete questions they can address through short-cycle tests and manageable actions
    -Create effective student-facing online experiences
    -Build rubrics for equitable assessment of student work

    (See recommendations below for feedback from consulting clients)

  • Springboard Collaborative

    Senior Director, Innovation and Evaluation

    Rebecca worked at Springboard Collaborative as a Senior Director, Innovation and Evaluation

  • Daytona State College

    Writing Center Director and Professor of Writing

    I founded DSC's multi-campus/online College Writing Center, growing it from a department of one to a department of over 30 FT employees, PT employees, student workers, and faculty volunteers across 6 campuses.

    During my tenure as Director, the CWC became one of the only joint-use writing centers in the US, serving students from both the University of Central Florida and Daytona State. I also established the CWC as the first student-services department at the college to utilize data-driven assessment practices.

    As administrator, I managed a $1M annual budget, supervised 7 FT and 15 PT staff, trained tutors and faculty, oversaw the development of DSC's WAC/WID faculty professional development program (see "Improving Success" below), and served on college-wide leadership committees for assessment design, re-accreditation processes, and more.

    Simultaneously, I served as a faculty member, where I taught courses in writing and research, served on faculty senate (including successfully leading the initiative to redesign our tenure and promotion system), published scholarly articles and poetry in peer reviewed journals (see all links below), presented at conferences, obtained tenure, and was promoted to full professor.

Education

  • New College of Florida

    Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)

    Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities

  • University of Louisville

    Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

    Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies

  • University of Louisville

    University Fellow


    Assistant Director in the Writing Center, Graduate teaching assistant (teaching courses in business and professional writing, technical and scientific writing, creative writing, and college composition), writing tutor.