Meet Erin Pollard, Director of Business Strategy
As QIP’s director of business strategy, Erin Pollard has her eye on the future—while building on the company’s past.
“I’m looking for ways to not change who we are or change what we’ve done, but to find a way to take those skills and apply them to different kinds of projects,” she says.
As she works to bring new projects to QIP, Erin spends much of her time meeting with potential clients and partners. Just as important, she consults regularly with the QIP team to get a sense for each person’s skills and preferences. “I spend a lot of time trying to make sure I understand who’s available, what they like to work on, what they don’t like to work on, and what would be the right kind of projects,” Erin says.
When a suitable project has been identified, she works with the QIP team to develop and write the proposal. And although she may take the lead in this area, she stresses that it’s always a team effort.
“Our business runs on relationships, with partners, agencies, and the people who remember how QIP performs and operates,” says QIP President Beth Young. “Erin has spent years building relationships in our field with integrity, and that's why people want to work with us.”
Erin is particularly proud of QIP winning a contract from the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) to revise the achievement level descriptions for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) fourth- and eighth-grade reading and math assessments. The project will bring together experts to help identify the skills that differentiate between students at a "basic" level versus at a "proficient" level.
“Ultimately, the goal is to help students learn,” says Erin. "The goal is to help improve education data systems and connect people to resources. We believe in these programs that we’re working on. We aren’t just going after contracts to make money. Everything is values driven.”
Connections between different projects make the work even more important, she says. For example, QIP also is working on practice guides found in the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC). Those guides are based on curricula that have been developed using the NAEP achievement level descriptions.
“It’s all this ecosystem where we’re trying to get these evidence-based strategies into educators’ hands so they can improve the quality of their teaching and students can learn more,” Erin says.
Prior to joining QIP, Erin spent 14 years managing programs and contracts for the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. This experience gives her a unique perspective on agencies’ needs during the proposal process and after a contract has been awarded.
While at IES, Erin often worked on projects with QIP.
“Getting to work at QIP day in and day out—everyone is so nice, everyone is so collaborative, everyone is so helpful in saying what they need and what they don’t need, and it really is designed to build upon people’s strengths,” she says. “Everyone here is dedicated to doing the job well.”
Erin’s career also includes time as an evaluation specialist for Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland and education consultant at the Center for American Progress, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in politics and sociology from Ursinus College and a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown University. In her free time, she enjoys gardening and other outdoor activities.
