Rocking Out With David J. Bernstein
Do you know any rock stars? If not, let me introduce you to Washington Evaluator's Past-President David J. Bernstein, who has met quite a few and seen many, many more in concert.David is a two-time George Washington University alumnus (MPA and Ph.D.) who is a Senior Study Director with Westat, an employee-owned social science research company based in Rockville, Maryland. He has been with Westat since 2005. There he plans and conducts contracted evaluations and performance measurement activities. Most of the funding for his projects comes from federal agencies such as the Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living. David also conducts evaluations for state government agencies and associations. His work covers the entire evaluation planning cycle, from helping clients develop strategic plans, set up performance monitoring systems, designing evaluations, collecting data (often with the assistance of the evaluand and stakeholders), analyzing quantitative and qualitative data, writing reports, and presenting evaluation results to clients and stakeholders.
Although he isn't a founding member of WE, he has been involved as a member off and on since the mid 1980's. According to David, "WE has provided me with tremendous networking and leadership opportunities. Serving as President of WE has been one of the greatest privileges of my professional career. I've met some wonderful friends, learned a lot about the evaluation field, and enjoyed the opportunity to give back to a profession that I have found so fulfilling." His membership in WE was an outgrowth of his American Evaluation Association (AEA) activities. As a founding member of AEA, he has been active in Topical Interest Groups (TIG) such as the Government Evaluation TIG and the Graduate Student and New Evaluator TIG, and served as the Founding Chair for both. David has also served on a number of AEA task forces and working groups. Wanting to expand his professional participation, he knew that Washington Evaluators provided services including networking and professional development activities year-round, and would be a good “evaluator’s water cooler” through which to spend time with fellow evaluators.
David's parting words are, "I encourage all of WE's members to get more involved. Involvement is what keeps a volunteer organization for professional evaluators (VOPE) like WE going, and your contributions will pay dividends in terms of professional growth and connections."
When David isn't doing "The WE thing, he is an avid concert-goer and photographer. You can catch him at live rock concerts snapping (his camera), clapping (his hands), and singing along. He has seen rock icon Bruce Springsteen 48 times in multiple states. If you want to know more about David or attend an awesome rock concert, you can reach him at davidbernstein@westat.com or follow him on Twitter at @DJBernstein.
