John is a career legislative program evaluator who has now headed legislative program evaluation staffs in three states over a 39-year period. The Legislative Services Commission appointed John as the first Director of the Program Evaluation Division in June 2007 following his services as Project Manager of the NC General Assembly’s Government Performance Audit Committee in 2006. John was CEO of Turcotte Public Administration Consulting and Training, LLC (TPACT) from 2003–2007. TPACT provided training and consulting for audit and other knowledge-based staffs at all levels of government. From 1996–2003, John was Director of the Florida Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA). From 1977–1995, John served as Director of Mississippi’s Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER). In Mississippi, Florida, and North Carolina, John and his staffs produced over 851 technical reports and program evaluations. He was the National Staff Chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures in 1994. John has also been an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Mississippi College and Millsaps College and an instructor of American Government at Hinds Community College in Jackson, Mississippi. He began his career as a math and science teacher in Mississippi. He received a B.A. in Political Science with Highest Honors and a M.A. in Political Science and American Government from the University of Southern Mississippi. He completed additional study at Millsaps College, the Federal Executive Institute, Mississippi State Executive Development Institute, and the National Conference of State Legislatures Legislative Staff Management Institute. In 1986, the Council of State Governments selected John as one of the first group of Henry Toll Fellows.

Kiernan joined the Program Evaluation Division in November 2007. Since then, she has led evaluations of the Human Relations Commission and Civil Rights Division, DMV's oversight of license plate agencies, the state retirement system, the statewide high school graduation project requirement, and Medicaid's private duty nursing service. Prior to her work at PED, she was a Project Director at the NC Institute of Medicine, an independent, quasi-state agency that provides information on issues of relevance to the health of North Carolina's population. From 2004–2006, Kiernan was a law clerk with the Nebraska Health and Human Services System where she represented the department in administrative hearings. She received her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology (2007) and her J.D. (2006), with a concentration in healthcare law, from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She has published articles in legal, medical, and psychological journals. Kiernan received her B.S. in psychology from Davidson College (2001).

Carol Shaw,  Principal Program Evaluator

Carol came to the Program Evaluation Division in August 2007 from the NC General Assembly's Fiscal Research Division where she had worked for twenty-four years. In the Program Evaluation Division, she has led evaluations of the budget and financial management of state government, administration of county departments of social services, state fleet management, and the alcohol beverage control system. In the Fiscal Research Division, she was a Principal Fiscal Analyst and Team Leader for the Health and Human Services Team, and she is an acknowledged expert on the NC Medicaid Program. Carol's policy and budgetary knowledge extends to many other departments of State government including Agriculture and Consumer Services, Commerce, Labor, Transportation, Employment Security Commission, Housing Finance Agency, Wildlife Resources Commission, State Ports Authority, and Environment and Natural Resources. With her extensive experience advising the legislature, Carol is practiced in conducting policy and program analyses. She holds a Masters of Regional Planning (1983) and B.A. in American Studies (1980), summa cum laude, both from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has served on the National Conference of State Legislatures Executive Committee.

Pam joined the Program Evaluation Division in November 2007. Since then, she has ensured the quality of evaluation plans, research design, data analysis, and web surveys for all Division projects. Previously, she was a Manager for the Exploratory Data Analysis group within Deloitte & Touche's National Service Center. Prior to her national position, Pam served as a Senior Consultant for the Data Quality and Integrity unit in the Pacific Southwest. Pam has extensive experience in data management, data analysis, and technical support, serving as Director of Institutional Research and Acting Director of Information Technology for the UCLA Graduate Division. In addition, she has been directly involved in the design and implementation of program evaluations for community-based organizations, foundations, educational institutions, and government agencies. Pam received a Ph.D. in social psychology with a minor in measurement from UCLA (1998), a B.A., summa cum laude, in psychology with a minor in mathematics from Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC (1993), and an M.F.A in Writing (Poetry) from the Vermont College of Fine Arts (2012).

Larry joined the Program Evaluation Division in March 2008. He is the lead for the Division's North Carolina Accountability Report initiative, and he led an evaluation of the state’s water and wastewater infrastructure. Larry has over 35 years of experience in progressive leadership positions with the United States Air Force and commercial entities. As a private consultant, he provided guidance and evaluation of process re-engineering, outsourcing strategies, compliance with international quality programs and standards, and government contract management to government and commercial organizations. He is an ISO 9001-2000 Quality Management System Lead Assessor and was Calibration Accreditation Manager for ACLASS Accreditation Services. Larry was the Senior Technical Advisor for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the implementation of the USAID Metrology Accreditation Standardization-Quality (MAS-Q) initiative in Uzbekistan. He also evaluated quality initiatives in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Larry is a retired Colonel with the US Air Force where he held multiple commands and was chief logistician for advanced concept programs. He received a M.S. in Human Resources Management from Golden State University and a B.S. in Aerospace from the University of Tulsa.

Jeff joined the Program Evaluation Division in January of 2012. He is the lead evaluator on the submerged land project. Prior to his work at PED, he was a Fellow at the George Gund Foundation, analyzing grant proposals and overseeing an external evaluation of the Foundation's grant making.  Jeff has worked as a consultant to nonprofit organizations and as a contractor to the US EPA.  He has a background in environmental policy with a focus on water quality and wetland protection.  He also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in China as an environmental science instructor at Chongqing Youdian University.  Jeff received a Master of Public Policy from Duke University and graduated cum laude from Allegheny College with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Political Science.

Sean joined the Program Evaluation Division in June of 2008. Since then, he has led an evaluation of the Indian Cultural Center, the Department of Transportation's Global TransPark Authority, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resource's Underground Storage Tank Program. His previous research experience includes developing, refining, and testing the cost estimation relationships of government systems integration for the Department of Defense's Program Analysis and Evaluation Group. He served as a research affiliate for the Software Engineering Institute in support of the Dynamic Systems work group. He has worked as an instructor in two capacities: as adjunct faculty with the Center for Excellence in Public Leadership at George Washington University and as a teaching assistant of political science courses at North Carolina State University. Sean earned his Masters of Public Administration from North Carolina State University and has earned a B.S. and M.S. from the University of Tennessee.

Jim joined the Program Evaluation Division in January 2012. He was the lead evaluator on the North Carolina Railroad Company project. Jim has 35 years of state and federal experience with performance audits. Previously, he worked at the Office of the State Auditor for 5 years and, prior to that, he worked at the Air Force Audit Agency for 30 years. Jim began his career as a marketing teacher in Greensboro. He continued teaching as an adjunct accounting instructor at Mount Olive College, Saint Leo College, and North Carolina Wesleyan College for 17 years while working for the Air Force. Jim received an AB in Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a MS in Business Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Jim is a Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Government Financial Manager.

Doris Gilbert, Program Evaluation Technician and Administrative Assistant

Doris joined the Program Evaluation Division in June 2007. Prior to her work at PED, she was the Office Manager for the NC Progress Board for six years. Doris worked for state government starting in 1964, retiring in 1995. For 17 years, she worked for NC State University in various departments. Her work at NC Public Television in Development involved all aspects of fundraising where she was the Manager of the Development Fundraising Division. Doris returned to state government in 1983 with the Department of Administration, Secretary’s Office and later, in 1995, retired from the Office of the State Controller. Since her retirement, she has continued to work part-time.