As coordinator of research and evaluation for TASC’s Center for Health and Justice, Cierra McDonald is instrumental as part of TASC’s collaboration with Texas Christian University (TCU) to develop and implement research and evaluation strategies for the national Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN), which is part of the NIH HEAL Initiative ^SM.

Working with clients and partners in treatment and justice systems, Cierra gathers information to assess and improve public health and safety outcomes for individuals reentering communities post-incarceration who use opioids or are at risk for using them.

Before coming to TASC, Cierra spent three years at the Safer Foundation as a sector manager working with reentry clients. She is a graduate of Chicago's Hyde Park Academy, received her BA (Magna Cum Laude) from Alcorn State University (Lorman, MS), and her MA in public policy from Adler University (Chicago, IL).