Juan De Angulo was born in Philadelphia as the second of five children to Colombian parents. He spent most of his childhood and adolescence in Bolivia where his parents worked as Directors for MAP International in the area of holistic health and community development. During his time in Bolivia, Juan gained experience working with community-based programs where he was exposed to program evaluation and the role it plays on fostering learning environments and ensuring quality work.

At his return to the US, Juan obtained a BA in Sociology and an MBA in International Economic Development from Eastern University in St. Davids, PA. He returned to Bolivia to support Map International in strengthening micro-lending efforts in 2007 after completing his studies. In 2008, he went back to Philadelphia, where he worked as a consultant for Medicines for Humanity on the design of strategic modules for health promotion and nutrition. Juan joined Congreso's Data and Evaluation team three years ago as a coordinator and was promoted to the Data and Evaluation Manager within a year of working there. Most recently, Juan became the Director of the Data and Evaluation Department and has been appointed a member of the National Product Advisory Board for Social Solutions, as well as a member of the Data, Performance Management and Accountability work group of the Philadelphia Department of Human Services’ initiative to Improve Outcomes for Children.

Founded in 1977, Congreso’s vision is to transform the lives of Latinos in Eastern North Philadelphia by moving them up the economic ladder and, ultimately, out of poverty. The agency accomplishes this by assisting clients in achieving education credentials and employment, while providing support to remove social and health barriers and emphasizing cultural identity. Congreso served more than 15,000 individuals in FY11 through its education, employment, health and safety programs.

Congreso's mission is to strengthen Latino communities through social, economic, education, and health services; leadership development; and advocacy. As a nationally recognized multi-service organization, Congreso accomplishes its mission through a cradle to career pipeline of 51 programs that provide comprehensive, supportive services. Our Maternal, Infant and Child Health programs, for example, serve expecting parents, teen parents, and their families, ensuring that they receive proper education regarding breastfeeding, child health, and parenting skills. In 2008, Congreso founded Pan American Academy Charter School, which by 2012 will be a full K-8 serving over 700 students. We work with youth through after-school programs and efforts to engage high school students who are at risk of dropping out or those who have already dropped out and want to return to obtain a GED or high school diploma. We also work with adults through our workforce development training programs, housing and social services for families in crisis. Congreso will soon open a Federally-Qualified Health Center (FQHC) which will allow the agency to provide primary care health services to all, regardless of age.
Congreso employs approximately 200 individuals through full and part-time positions, and has been named the 14th largest Hispanic nonprofit in the nation by Hispanic Business magazine.

For the fellowship my goal is to complete a formative evaluation of the Parenting Education programs at Congreso. We have 3 Parenting education programs that use different curriculum and approaches. Currently we are using the AAPI assessment (research-based tool used to assess attitudes toward parenting) as pre-test and post-test to assess the program but we are exploring different alternatives to evaluate the program. Two of the programs use group based trainings on a cycle of 12 weeks, 2 hours per week and the third program uses one on one case management. The goals for the programs are to improve parenting skills, enhance parent-child relationships, and increase knowledge about abuse and neglect.

The objective of the evaluation will be to assess the current evaluation strategy, identify best practices identified by the programs, to present recommendations for the programs going forward. Through this evaluation I will bring together the practitioners from the different programs to identify challenging areas, and to identify the best practices that are associated with results. The impact of this evaluation could help the parenting programs to solidify their service delivery, improve the outcomes for the clients and program, and ultimately serve as the pilot for new series of formative evaluation that could be replicated in the different service areas that Congreso is working on.