How Chestnut’s Evaluation Director Belinda Willis Ensures that Addiction Programs “Add Up”

Belinda Willis is Evaluation Director for Chestnut Health Systems with over 30 years of research, program evaluation, database management and administrative experience. "The Figure in the Carpet" is a short story by novelist Henry James that’s about a narrator who is intent on discovering the secret meaning of an author's works, which is likened to discerning the hidden “figure in the carpet." The metaphor seems like an apt lens through which to appreciate Belinda’s work as she explains what an Evaluation Director does - analyzing large datasets to determine the efficacy of addiction treatment methods, to working with providers and external partners to ensure they’re following grant guidelines. We discussed what’s changed in the field over the course of the past three decades, what’s driven this change, and the potential impacts of AI on the important work she and her colleagues at CHS/LI do. Belinda also discusses several of the projects she’s currently working on and what’s in the pipeline.