Renae Youngs

Renae joined MAD in 2022 after working as Director of Research and Evaluation for the Minnesota State Arts Board from 2014 to 2019 and a policy researcher for the City of Minneapolis from 2019 to 2022. Prior to city and state service, she was a research and evaluation consultant working in museums and other informal learning settings, such as zoos, libraries, and public programs conducted by higher education institutions.

Consulting focus

Renae is a program evaluator with experience across a range of methods and approaches. She is a subject matter generalist, and her passion is for ensuring the usability and use of evaluation findings. Her focus is on understanding her clients’ goals and working together with clients to make sense of information. Renae loves the variety of tasks and subject matter consulting work involves and that her work helps a client organization advance its own mission and provide better service to people. 

Client and project highlights 

• Department of Human Services: Conducting research and analysis to inform a pilot by the agency’s Disability Services Division of supportive parenting services for parents with disabilities. 
• Department of Public Safety: Supporting strategic planning for the State Fire Marshal Division by gathering and synthesizing stakeholder input about upcoming priorities and diversity, equity, and inclusion concerns in the fire service.  
• Department of Education: Planning a developmental evaluation of a multi-year project on culturally responsive arts education. 

Educational background

Renae has an MA in museology from the University of Washington and a BA from Grinnell College.