First 5 LA Names Daniela Pineda, Ph.D. as Vice President of Integration & Learning

LOS ANGELES, June 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- First 5 LA, a leading public grantmaking and child advocacy organization, today named Daniela Pineda, Ph.D. as Vice President of Integration & Learning. This position is part of a five-member Executive Team of organization-wide leaders tasked with shaping, setting and executing First 5 LA's strategic direction.

Pineda will oversee development of the learning and evaluation framework for all First 5 LA programs and grants, and will be responsible for creating and championing an organizational culture of continuous learning and ongoing improvement. She also will be responsible for ensuring First 5 LA is supported by best practices in evaluation and performance measurement methodologies and robust data analysis to capture learnings to improve organizational effectiveness, program performance and impact.

"Daniela is a terrific addition to First 5 LA's senior leadership team. Her experience and focus on evaluation, measurement and outcomes will help shape a culture of learning and integration within First 5 LA. Under Daniela's leadership, this new division will help inform our strategy, improve practice, and contribute to greater effectiveness and results for young children and their families," said Kim Belshé, Executive Director of First 5 LA.

Pineda currently serves as the Associate Director of Evaluation and Impact at Living Cities, based in Washington D.C. In this role, Daniela defines the strategic direction of Living Cities' evaluation portfolio and leads all evaluation investments. Prior to joining Living Cities, Daniela was the first Strategic Data Officer for the Postsecondary Success team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where she was responsible for managing evaluation and research investments that focused on using data to inform strategy and decision-making.

"First 5 LA is undertaking truly innovative work on behalf of children and families in L.A. County, and I am tremendously proud to join the team," said Pineda. "Organizational learning is critical to organizational effectiveness and impact. I look forward to working with the First 5 LA team to shape and advance an organization-wide approach to monitoring, evaluation and learning to help improve the quality and increase the impact of our work for young children."

Daniela earned a Doctorate in Public Policy and Sociology, a Masters of Arts from the University of Michigan- Ann Arbor, and a Bachelor of Arts from Pomona College. She has held research fellowships from MRDC, Mathematica Policy Research, the National Science Foundation, and the Association for Institutional Research among others.

Pineda will begin work at First 5 LA on July 11.

Last week, First 5 LA named Kim Pattillo Brownson as Vice President of Policy & Strategy. This past April, First 5 LA named Christina Altmayer as Vice President of Programs and Carl Gayden as Senior Director of Administration.

The roles are a result of a process undertaken by First 5 LA to strengthen the organization's ability to effectively execute its 2015-2020 Strategic Plan and to help it become a higher performing, higher impact organization for children prenatal to age 5, and their parents and caregivers.

ABOUT FIRST 5 LA
First 5 LA is a leading early childhood advocate organization created by California voters to invest Proposition 10 tobacco tax revenues in Los Angeles County. In partnership with others, First 5 LA strengthens families, communities, and systems of services and supports so that all children in L.A. County enter kindergarten ready to succeed in school and life. Please visit www.first5la.org for more information.

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SOURCE First 5 LA