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About Us

Our Team

Professional staff at Metis consists of social scientists who are specialists in program evaluation, research design, and statistical analysis, and experts in program design and grant writing.

Leadership

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Linc Smith

Executive Chair

Linc assumed the role of Metis’s Executive Chair upon the firm’s acquisition by Inspired Holdings Public Benefit Corp, which he founded and leads as its largest shareholder. Inspired Holdings is building a family of firms to tackle a massive societal challenge – helping its clients make systems change to advance child/youth learning, development, well-being, and success. He’s an experienced CEO with a demonstrated history of growing social sector consultancies. He’s also led the execution of more than a dozen merger and acquisition transactions – not as an intermediary or advisor, but as the lead executive operator. Before founding Inspired Holdings, Linc led Altarum Institute, first as COO, then as its CEO from 2007-2021. During his tenure, Altarum grew its health-focused mission field more than five times, and continually invested in refining its focus on public health and health equity, continuing to thrive.

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Tara Fowler

President and Chief Executive Officer

As President and CEO, Dr. Fowler drives operational excellence while fostering strategic growth initiatives and elevating client service delivery. Prior to joining Metis, she served as Vice President of Population Health at Altarum, where she built and led comprehensive public health and healthcare initiatives serving federal, state, and philanthropic partners. A transformational leader, Dr. Fowler has guided organizations through periods of significant evolution and expansion, leveraging her expertise in change management, operational optimization, and relationship cultivation. Her research and consulting experience spans national initiatives in youth development, school health, family wellness, maternal and reproductive health, behavioral health, and military and veteran care, with a particular focus on social determinants of health and equity.

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Marilyn Zlotnik

Chief Marketing Officer

Since coming to Metis in 1994, Marilyn has served in a continuum of leadership roles, most recently as interim President and Chief Executive Officer. Marilyn currently serves as Chief Marketing Officer, where she leads the design and execution of Metis’s marketing and brand awareness activities, with a focus on new business development. The proud daughter of two lifelong New York City educators and a former high school teacher, Marilyn’s professional interests center on K-16 educational programming, including a focus on school choice and college and career access. Since 1994 Marilyn has led Metis’s grant writing service area, which has secured more than $1 billion in competitive grants for our clients.

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Erin Butto

VP of Operations and Talent Development

Erin Butto, MPH, drives operational excellence and strategic talent management at Metis. Prior to joining Metis, she led the Applied Research and Analytics practice at Altarum, managing a large portfolio focused on Survey Science, Health Economics and Policy Research, and Military and Veterans Health. A strategic leader with more than two decades of experience across research, analytics, and program management, Erin advances staff development and cultivates high-value partnerships with clients while ensuring strong organizational performance. Her work has spanned national coalition-building, health equity initiatives, and innovative tools that support data-driven decision-making. She is deeply committed to improving outcomes for disenfranchised populations and has a proven track record of aligning operational excellence with mission-driven goals.

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Julia Alemany

Managing Senior Associate

Julia Alemany leads Metis’s work in supporting schools, school districts, state agencies, Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) and other organizations focused on promoting college and career readiness and success. Julia is also responsible for overseeing large-scale, multi-site evaluations of initiatives focused on P-12 education, youth development, STEM, PBIS/MTSS, and health and mental health. Julia has a keen interest in building clients’ capacity to use data effectively by providing data literacy trainings and data placemat activities for key stakeholders and developing user-friendly, dynamic Tableau dashboards for a wide range of organizations.

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Claire Aulicino

Managing Senior Associate

Claire Aulicino leads Metis’s work for school districts and other organizations pursuing equitable and integrated learning environments. A significant component of her work since 2001, Claire directs the evaluation of magnet and other special academic and choice programs specifically designed to foster racial/ethnic and socioeconomic integration within public schools. She also leads a portfolio of work to develop and conduct evaluations of various initiatives in K-12 and human services. These include educational technology, STEM education, charter schools, out-of-school time, college readiness and success, and youth development.

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Dr. Susanne Harnett

Managing Senior Associate

Dr. Susanne Harnett leads our work in arts education and engagement, overseeing a team of Metis researchers and evaluators with particular expertise in this focus area. Since 1999, Susanne has been the principal investigator on the study of several large-scale educational initiatives in New York City and other urban school districts around the country. She has a wide range of interests in educational evaluation, including literacy, school counseling, social-emotional literacy, and teacher professional development, among other areas. Susanne is also an expert in designing and directing rigorous impact studies of these types of initiatives, and a seasoned presenter of study findings to different audiences.

Donna Wilkens

Managing Senior Associate

Donna Wilkens is a seasoned program evaluator and researcher with a keen professional interest in studying efforts related to children, families, and communities. She directs large-scale studies of education interventions, such as community schools, out-of-school time programs, teen pregnancy prevention, and school climate and culture transformation initiatives. With over 20 years of grant writing experience, specializing in large federal grants, Donna received her Grant Professional Certification (GPC) in 2022. Based in Atlanta, Donna manages a portfolio of work in program evaluation, data management and support, research design, and statistical analysis.