“We should always be learning from the people we meet. In our role as researchers, we must do our best to represent what communities have told us and then share that information with the people who can make positive social changes.”

Thalia is passionate about building long-lasting partnerships at every level of research—from the participants who share their stories to client partners. She collaborates, within and outside of Wilder Research, to ensure that projects are rooted in the perspectives of people who have lived experience and who are most impacted by findings. Thalia joined Wilder in 2004.

Thalia has supported hundreds of projects, especially those that focus on community engagement and center immigrant voices. She supports Wilder Research’s DEI and community engagement work and is involved in Ujima, an employee resource group for employees of African descent. A detailed and dedicated researcher, Thalia excels at building strong relationships, conducting focus groups and interviews, coding qualitative data, managing databases, and providing consistent, responsive technical assistance to project partners. For the past decade, she has worked as the grantee liaison and database manager for a multi-year program evaluation for the State of Minnesota, called Women’s Recovery Services. In this role, Thalia helps grantees navigate the project database, answers technical questions, conducts trainings, and oversees data entry and quality for reporting. She also supports multiple aspects of the Minnesota Homeless Study, conducted every three years by Wilder Research. Her primary task is preparing and sending survey materials to hundreds of housing providers across the state for one night of data collection, followed by reconciling all surveys and incentives as they return to Wilder Research.

Thalia has a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and audiology from Michigan State University. She is an active member in the Liberian community, one of the largest African immigrant communities in the Twin Cities, and volunteers for the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota. She is a skilled artist and loves birds.