Sarah Gabriella Hernandez is an evaluator and researcher specializing in community-engaged and participatory approaches. She has collaborated with diverse organizations and community partners across Chicago to conduct mixed-methods research, culturally responsive and developmental evaluations, program development and coordination, community health assessments, and dissemination.
Hernandez leads qualitative research on the impacts of projects that focus on improving equity in health and education. She has published on oral histories as critical expertise in leading qualitative methods in public health and the use of multiple qualitative methods to better discern community health needs. Her areas of work have included community health, student leadership development, and environmental justice.
As the evaluation manager of Resiliency in Communities after Stress and Trauma (ReCAST), Hernandez coordinates evaluation activities that assess community resilience and trauma-informed practices. She also leads participatory research and evaluation capacity building with ReCAST Community Ambassadors. Along with her community-based work, she contributes to the design and coordination of two foundation-funded evaluations.
Hernandez holds a PhD in Community and Prevention Research from the University of Illinois at Chicago.