Mary Jo Bane, chair of the MDRC Board of Directors, announced today that, after a nationwide search, Virginia Knox has been appointed the next president of MDRC, succeeding Gordon Berlin.

Knox, who is currently a vice president of MDRC, has led the organization’s Families and Children Policy Area since 2004. She brings 25 years of leadership in developing, evaluating, and improving social programs. Throughout her career, Knox has created large-scale projects that combine technical program assistance with implementation and impact research to draw lessons for future policy and practice. She has particularly focused on how increased access to assistance for low-income parents — including child support, supports for work, and interventions to strengthen parental well-being and parenting — can improve the lives of both parents and children. Knox has a doctorate in public policy from Harvard University.

On behalf of the MDRC Board of Directors, Bane made the following statement:

We are delighted that Ginger has agreed to assume the leadership of MDRC at a crucial time in its illustrious history. She brings a life-long commitment to the mission of improving the lives of low-income families and children, deep understanding of the challenges facing social and education policy, on-the-ground expertise in bringing evidence to bear to solve problems, and an engaging and forward-thinking leadership style that will benefit the organization and its partners. Building on the successes of her predecessors, she is well-positioned to lead her colleagues as they build on MDRC’s track record as a sought-after partner in developing and using reliable evidence to strengthen the policies and programs serving low-income people.

Knox stated:

I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to play this new role, leading MDRC’s immensely talented staff as they find new solutions to the challenges that low-income people in the United States face every day. MDRC has thrived under the extraordinary leadership of Gordon Berlin, substantially expanding the areas in which we work and the toolkit of methods we use. It is heartening that even in the current era of polarization, policymakers and practitioners are using data and evidence more than ever to inform their decisions. I’m excited to lead MDRC as it continues to work alongside our program partners, both helping organizations use their own data effectively for program improvement and scaling efforts and conducting evaluations that provide the answers they need. 

Knox will assume her new role as president on October 15, 2019.