Elena Chernock, M.F.A. (she/her) is a facilitator, evaluator, researcher, and nonprofit consultant who helps organizations understand their impact, strengthen their programs, tell their stories, and better serve their communities. Elena practices evaluation as a creative, participatory craft, partnering with nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies to deepen their practice of reflection and learning. With nearly twenty years across the arts and culture, youth development, and social justice sectors, she has built deep expertise in evaluation, capacity building, program and curriculum development, cohort design, and arts-based facilitation that centers community voices and fosters collective sense-making.
She currently works independently and as a Senior Consultant with MEMconsultants. Most recently, she served as Director of Research & Evaluation at Third Plateau, where she led national ecosystem evaluations, elevated grantee impacts to support the development of strategic initiatives, and conceived and led capacity building programs that supported over 40 arts leaders and 25 nonprofits in designing and implementing program evaluation. She has partnered with a wide range of organizations, from grassroots nonprofits to national foundations and local government agencies, supporting data-informed decision-making and organizational learning at every level. Having spent over a decade as a teaching artist and program director before moving into evaluation, she brings a trauma-informed approach and a practitioner’s fluency in the tensions and possibilities of community-centered work.
She holds an M.F.A. in Arts Leadership from Seattle University and a B.A. in Visual and Media Arts from Emerson College. Elena also serves on the Tacoma Creates Advisory Board, representing City Council District 5, where she supports public funding for arts, culture, heritage, and science programming in her community.
When she’s not working, Elena can be found exploring the Pacific Northwest with her partner and chihuahuas, making art, eating good food, and lounging by the Puget Sound.
