Today, we are celebrating three years of having Claire Hoff on our team! Around the office, you’ll find her combing through data, asking us about our dogs and being supportive to all. Claire was recently voted “most likely to be turned on by a spreadsheet” by her teammates.
Claire joined the Women’s Fund in November 2022 as Research and Evaluation Director. She brings nearly 10 years of evaluation experience, most recently supporting participatory evaluation work around system-level and individual-level initiatives designed to support young people as they transition to adulthood. She values utilization-focused research and evaluation, and is especially interested in the intersections between how evaluation is used for accountability and/or learning.
Claire has a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Nebraska Omaha and is currently pursuing her PhD in public administration. She enjoys baking, trying new restaurants, and spoiling her dogs, Frank and Jack.
Here’s a little bit more about our inquisitive, curious and brilliant Research and Evaluation Director:
Q: How long have you been at the WFO?
CH: Three years!
Q: Where are you from?
CH: Omaha, born and raised! If I had a dollar for every time someone has asked me what high school I went to…
Q: Do you have any pets? What are their names?
CH: YES! Shocked if you have not seen photos yet! We have two Great Pyrenees mixes, Frank and Jack. Different litters/different breed compositions, but they do look alike! We got Jack earlier this year on a whim. He is also part Mastiff and has turned into the sweetest, doofiest, 125-pound “little” brother.
Q: What are your “big 3” astrology signs (moon/rising/sun)?
CH: Thanks to Jill Heggen, I know this! I’m a Virgo Sun, Aquarius Moon, Libra Rising.
Q: What is your Enneagram number? Or Meyers-Briggs? Etc?
CH: When I took the free quiz it said I was a 5 (Investigator), but I think I might actually be a 1 (Reformer).
Q: What are your top 5 favorite albums?
CH: Narrowing the criteria to my top 5 nostalgic, sing-at-the-top-of-my-lungs-in-my-car, woman-powered albums:
- Tragic Kingdom – No Doubt
- Jagged Little Pill – Alanis Morissette
- Riot! – Paramore
- Wicked (I do prefer the original with Kirsten Chenoweth and Idina Menzel)
- Spice or Spiceworld it’s a tie – Spice Girls
Q: Where did you go to college? What did you study?
CH: I went to William Jewell College just outside Kansas City for my undergrad degree. I studied music—true believer in the power of a liberal arts education! I also spent a year abroad in England as a fully-matriculated student at Cambridge—complete with student ID and imposter syndrome! (Seriously though, let’s all keep talking about imposter syndrome. Here is a great quote from a 2021 Harvard Business Review Article written by Ruchika Tulshyan and Jodi-Ann Burey, “Even as we know it today, imposter syndrome puts the blame on individuals, without accounting for the historical and cultural contexts that are foundational to how it manifests in both women of color and white women. Imposter syndrome directs our view toward fixing women at work instead of fixing the places where women work.”
Q: Do you have a secret talent?
CH: When I worked as a front desk receptionist for a large company, I was only allowed to read news websites during downtime. There was a lot of downtime. So I became INCREDIBLY good at Minesweeper. I could do the expert level in under 60 seconds. Does Minesweeper even still exist? Is this an extra secret talent??
Q: Give me two truths and a lie (and tell me which is which):
CH: I canoed over 100 miles through the Florida Everglades, sleeping on top of said canoes in said Everglades overnight (truth)
I have over 500 Instagram followers (Lie! I don’t even have Instagram!)
I once lost a toenail playing rugby (truth)
Q: Do you have a moment that really galvanized your feminism?
CH: What has really galvanized my feminism lately is witnessing the challenges my friends and loved ones experience as they navigate our healthcare system to meet their reproductive health needs. Seeing people who I love experience deeply personal and difficult situations surrounding fertility treatments, abortion care, pregnancy loss, postpartum recovery, perimenopause, menopause…as well as receiving biased healthcare personally has made me understand more deeply just how important bodily autonomy is, and how far we have to go.
Q: Do you have a favorite Women’s Fund memory?
CH: As someone who loves learning, my favorite memories have been when I learn alongside my colleagues and our partners, especially when we all discover or learn something new together. As we work towards the just, equitable and joyous world we want, learning (and unlearning) is foundational.
Q: How do you find joy or hope these days?
CH: Anything that involves getting out of my head and into my body gives me joy. I’ve gotten into beat-based cycling lately and hitting that choreography with other people in a dark sweaty room has re-ignited a special dopamine pathway built from years of show choir I didn’t even know still existed.
Q: What are you currently reading/listening to?
CH: Toooooooo many academic research articles (Yep, I acknowledge what I signed up for as PhD student!) I pick up books from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series when I can for balance. Send me your romantasy recs! Give me something to look forward to when I graduate!
Q: What’s the weirdest item we would find near your bed?
CH: Behind my bed is where throw pillows I think I am going to re-purpose go to die.
Q: What’s an unpopular opinion you have?
CH: “Data” should only ever be plural. Let’s bring datum back for singular use!