✤ Advancing public health research, Evaluation, and Strategy

Rooted in expertise,
growing public health impact.

Research, evaluation, and strategy that amplifies voices, builds evidence, and drives meaningful change.

✤ Your Trusted Partner in Research, Evaluation, and STrategy

Mighty Oak Evaluation is a woman-owned small business dedicated to advancing public health through rigorous research, evaluation, and evidence-based strategy.

Led by Tricia Collins Higgins, PhD, MPH, a seasoned expert with over 20 years of experience, Mighty Oak delivers insights that shape impactful programs.

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An ancient proverb states:
“Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.”

✤ Partnering Across sectors for public health impact

Mighty Oak empowers organizations to turn their research and evaluation goals into actionable outcomes, ensuring every project leads to lasting improvements in public health. We partner with:

Policy Research Firms

Supporting federal contracts with expert research and evaluation services as a WOSB-certified partner.

Philanthropies

Providing rigorous research, evaluation, and strategic planning services that center trust-based practices, community, and equity.

Nonprofits

Helping mission-driven organizations maximize their impact with efficient, high-quality research, evaluation, and strategic support.

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✤ Expertise Rooted in Passion

With over two decades of experience, Tricia has focused her career on centering voices closest to the issues and uncovering insights that drive change.

Tricia brings deep expertise in qualitative and mixed methods evaluation, with a gift for designing rigorous studies and strategic plans that meet clients where they are and deliver results they can actually use.

Her portfolio spans federal agencies, leading philanthropies, prestigious policy research firms, and nonprofits of every size. Across this portfolio of work, the common thread is Tricia’s ability to produce evidence-based, actionable recommendations that inform both immediate decisions and long-term strategy.

Tricia has broad subject matter expertise, with a particular passion for research on children and youth, primary care, mental and behavioral health, reproductive health, and health equity.

Before founding Mighty Oak Evaluation, Tricia spent many years at Mathematica directing complex, mixed methods evaluations for government and philanthropic clients. She was a supervisor and mentor to dozens of early-career researchers, and a go-to qualitative methods trainer and quality assurance reviewer across the organization.

Tricia holds a PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an MPH from Boston University School of Public Health, and a bachelor's degree in the History of Science from Harvard.

✤ Tailored solutions for every stage of your project

Mighty Oak empowers organizations to turn ideas into impact through customized research, evaluation, and strategic planning services.

Designing and implementing evaluations and research studies

Analyzing and synthesizing data to produce actionable, evidence-based strategies

Developing logic models, evaluation plans, and data collection instruments

Writing and editing reports, briefs, and presentations

Conducting interviews and facilitating focus groups

Training, coaching, and mentoring teams

✤ Supporting your organization Through a variety of roles

✓ Subcontracting as a research and evaluation expert for small business set-asides

✓ Embedding within teams for project leadership, methods support, and strategic planning

✓ Providing extensive quality assurance reviews or writing & editing support

✓ Training individuals and teams in research and evaluation methods and real-world applications

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  • Working with Tricia is a highlight of my professional career.

    Beyond being an expert researcher, Tricia is a calm, grounded presence that makes her colleagues feel at ease. Working with Tricia taught me how to navigate complex challenges with grace and clarity. She is not only greatly skilled at research, but also genuinely enjoyable to work with. 

    Rumin Sarwar, Senior Researcher, Mathematica

  • Tricia is the best kind of colleague: brilliant, compassionate, and humble.

    She has mastered the art of delivering high quality research while maintaining a sense of humor and perspective.

    Rebecca Coughlin, Senior Researcher, Mathematica

  • Tricia provided outstanding thought leadership and partnership to a high-visibility qualitative study for a federal client.

    Tricia is an exceptionally skilled qualitative researcher, and produced quality work with efficiency throughout each project phase — from her expert contributions to study conceptualization and design through her navigation of qualitative data collection and polished presentation of findings. Tricia’s ability to quickly discern client needs and priorities and propose practical and effective approaches to addressing them allowed us to deliver superior products under demanding timelines.

    Allison Wishon, Senior Researcher, Mathematica

  • Tricia provided coaching, training, and hands-on support for a graduate student and other members of our team as we took on a qualitative evaluation project.

    Tricia’s expertise was immense, and she was outstanding at helping members of our team build capacity in this area. It’s not everyone who can be both an expert and a coach! Tricia was organized, flexible, and oh-so-easy to work with. We will definitely reach out for future evaluation (or training!) needs!

    Sarah Davis, Business Services Director, Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center

  • As a colleague of Tricia's for nearly two decades, I've witnessed her collaborative style firsthand.

    When you work with Tricia, you get a thoughtful, trustworthy and detail-oriented partner dedicated to the highest quality of research. Tricia puts her full self into her work and her relationship with you. 

    Dominick Esposito, Vice President for Behavioral Health and Health Policy, Westat

  • Tricia is one of my favorite people to work with.

    Her clear, organized communication and overall thoughtfulness helped me contextualize specific research findings and enhanced my understanding of complex issues in primary care, behavioral health, and health policy. Tricia was also a great resource to help design evaluation and other research methods, balancing efficiency and rigor when drafting recruitment strategies and interview protocols.

    Genna Cohen, Senior Researcher, Mathematica 

✤ Grounded in integrity, driven by curiosity

Research and evaluation is about more than data: it’s about understanding people and creating meaningful change.

Whether it’s designing a study, mentoring a team, collaborating on strategic decision-making, or crafting a report, Tricia’s work is guided by these values:

❖ Quality: Decades of experience and a meticulous approach.

❖ Perspective: Balancing big-picture goals with day-to-day details.

❖ Trust: Honest, open communication and mutual understanding.

❖ Kindness: Empathy, respect, and humor make collaboration effective and enjoyable.

❖ Curiosity: Thoughtful questions and deep listening uncover the “why” and “how” behind every story.

✤ grow meaningful public health solutions

Let’s start a conversation about your research, evaluation, and strategy goals.

If you’d like to connect, please complete this form or email Tricia@MightyOakEval.com.