Monica Mitchell is deeply involved at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital, to say the least. She's the senior director of community relations and a professor of pediatrics within the Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology there.
However, her passions extend beyond just medicine. Mitchell loves being involved in the community, so much so that she was allowed by her employer to incorporate that love into her work back in 2001.
“I thought wouldn’t it be cool if I applied my many skills to my passions in the community and my boss was supportive of me doing that as part of my job,” she said.
These longings didn't develop overnight. In fact, Mitchell's clinical psychology background, her PhD and her history spending time doing community service and working at summer camps, contributed to her desires. But she wanted to do more.
INNOVATIONS in Community Research and Program Evaluation was officially born as a result of these desires.
“I think we’re unique in that most programs that do what we do probably just do it from the analytic perspective, and we have really good expertise working with other programs.”
Its goal? "INNOVATIONS was launched to help community organizations better use data and evidence-based approaches in the work they do," Mitchell, who serves as co-director of the entity, said. Specifically, it looks to be a "wide-reaching resource" for both nonprofit and educational entities with a desire to grow in their service of the communities they're in. Based out of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, it's co-directed by Lori Crosby.
The eight-person team is comprised of folks who "are not just really good at data and analytics, but also good at community engagement approaches,” Mitchell said. They have a broad range of abilities, with some working in behavioral medicine and others are psychology specialists. They work with local organizations, like Cincinnati public schools, Beech Acres Parenting Center and the Talbert House (to name a few), and offer a suite of services. Program consultation and technical assistance, web-based data systems, grant writing assistance, strategic planning, data system construction and other community issues are all under the INNOVATIONS staff's purview.
Collaboration between INNOVATIONS and the entities it serves is also paramount.
“I think we’re unique in that most programs that do what we do probably just do it from the analytic perspective, and we have really good expertise working with other programs,” Mitchell said. As she's worked in child development previously, she understands that brining a healthy human element to one's work is just as important as having solid business and data offerings.
Also imperative? "Listening to what this program wants to achieve, so we can really align it with the vision and the heart and soul of the program,” she added.
INNOVATIONS work doesn't stop with community organizations. Mitchell said she was also proud of the impact the entity is having on local college students with an internship program.
“We’re really proud of is that we work with a lot of young people, so we do a lot of training as part of our program,” she said.
Mitchell's work with INNOVATIONS isn't the only way she leans into her community. In fact, she has contributed insightful research into sickle-cell disease in children, and serves as senior director of community relations at Cincinnati Children's. That's not all: In 2010, she started efforts to positively impact obesity in Cincinnati.
