Professional Biography
Dr. Zapf has worked for more than two decades to improve educational outcomes for youth, organizations, and communities through her leadership roles in education, non-profit, and government sectors. She has trained thousands of educators, businesses, and industry leaders on designing, building, scaling, and evaluating education projects, programs, services, and products. Dr. Zapf has worked with higher education leaders on improving learning outcomes, run an education nonprofit, and conducted K-12 policy research as well as large- and small-scale educational evaluations. She helps drive Penn GSE's work in education innovation as a member of Catalyst @ Penn GSE. Dr. Zapf also designed and teaches a unique, interdisciplinary course Evaluation for Innovation, which combines design thinking, lean startup methodology, and developmental evaluation.
Before joining the Penn GSE, Dr. Zapf was Director of Strategy and Evaluation for the College of Health Professions and Social Work at Temple University. In an organization of 4,500 students, faculty, and staff, Dr. Zapf worked with senior leaders to improve learning outcomes, operational efficiency, and talent pipelines. She previously served as Chief Operating Officer for the Intergenerational Center, a nationally recognized nonprofit that provides educational services to more than 15,000 Philadelphia residents and technical assistance to communities throughout the United States. Earlier in her career, Dr. Zapf worked for more than a decade with federal evaluation providers to train national service leaders and practitioners on evaluating impact. In an earlier role at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Zapf managed the rollout of a national education policy reform initiative.
Dr. Zapf’s background is in participatory, developmental, and impact evaluation; qualitative and lean methods; and adaptive and user-experience design. Her research interests include academic innovation, social and education entrepreneurship, impact measurement and research.
