Gabriela López is the Director of Research to Practice at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. She sets strategic direction and grantmaking for the research to practice body of work. Prior to joining the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, she was the Director of Early Childhood Program Quality Assessment and Equity Implementation for WestEd’s Center for Child and Family Studies.
Gabriela began her research implementation work as a Senior Research Associate at Education Community Initiatives, an off-campus research office at the University of California, Riverside. Over her 30 year career, Gabriela led diverse teams in the delivery of high quality services to children, families, and teachers in early childhood and elementary school settings.
She developed culturally responsive program quality assessment systems, authored guidance for the PITC PARS (Program Assessment Rating Scale) for infant- toddler serving programs, leads a national Funder’s Collaborative for Innovative Measurement, and is a member of the executive leadership team for Grantmakers for Thriving Youth.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Development and is a candidate for the Master of Arts in Applied Anthropology from California State University, Long Beach.