On January 23, 2026, IPG’s Senior Research Associate and Data Specialist Liz Allen officially retired after having worked at the Institute since 2016. IPG had a retirement gathering in her honor on January 22, during which she was much celebrated by her family, friends, and colleagues. Liz, it has been an honor and privilege.

Statement by Max Stephenson Jr., IPG Director

“Liz is a consummate professional who works incredibly hard and is unwilling to accept any effort that falls short of excellence. She was always willing to do whatever was necessary and within her province to make our researchers and those they were assisting successful in their work together. She was likewise ever interested in finding new ways to assist those we serve and curious concerning new ways of thinking to do so. Liz made a difference daily in ways we shall all remember, as a result. We shall all miss her very much and wish her Godspeed.”

Statement by Mary Beth Dunkenberger, Deputy Director

Liz’s enthusiasm and commitment are truly irreplaceable. So often when we have felt overwhelmed by or underappreciated for the work we do and the efforts we make to advance programs and policies to improve the circumstances of the communities and populations we seek to serve, Liz stands up as our first-string cheerleader to urge us on.  She has done so through her duty to the work, her ability to see the bigger picture, and her consistent support and caring for her colleagues.  I speak of Liz in active voice and intentionally choose not to miss her, as, in the words of her IPG mentor, Nancy White, “[She’ll] be back!”

In a conversation with Billy Parvatam, IPG Communications Coordinator, Liz took some time to reflect on her career at the Institute.

BP: How did this opportunity to work at IPG come about?

LA: Through friendship networks (one of the best ways to find great jobs!). Isabel Bradburn (from the Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment) whom I’ve know now for 30+ yrs,  asked me if I would be interested in working with her and Mary Beth Dunkenberger’s IPG team, on an evaluation of Virginia’s Star Quality Initiative -VSQI (a pilot program to help improve the quality of early childhood preschools and home-based childcares). Of course I said, yes; and well, the rest is history.

I continued working on Isabel’s projects for 4 yrs before eventually being hired full time to staff several of Mary Beth’s projects at IPG. Over the past 10 years I’ve had the privilege to work across projects with great IPG colleagues including our fearless leader/executive director, Max S., Laura Taylor, David Moore, Lara Nagle, Laura Nelson, and Nancy White, just to name a few (there are many others!)

BP: What have been the biggest initiatives you’ve worked on with IPG over the years?  

LA: Helping build capacity. Whether it is strengthening capacity among us (IPG), across the university, or with our community partners; relationships matter and are key to what we do and for paving the way for future work/collaboration opportunities. I feel like everyone here (including our students) could be (should be) “building capacity”.

In terms of high-level views, my interest and focus have been directed at finding better, more robust, streamlined tools/processes to help us (and our community partners) in our work. So ultimately, we are better equipped to identify needs and gaps (as related to our various projects); and to track, measure and show the impact of what we—and our community partners—do.

During my time here, this has included:

  • working with colleagues to bring new platforms and tools to our institute (we were among the first users of MS TEAMS, REDCap, POWERBI when these were initially rolled out);
  • finding more streamlined (less manual) ways to utilize primary and secondary data sets/tools we often use across projects (like QuestionPro, Qualtrics, REDCAP: FRED, Census Data, IRS 990 tax-exempt data sets, Overdose data sets and others). 
  • designing/redesigning EXCEL spreadsheets on various projects, so data/information tracking, analyses and reporting processes could be better streamlined and automated.
  • working with individuals at partner agency level (and at IPG/university) to teach some basic data management best practices and to introduce a few EXCEL features to save them a lot of time and effort. This has been one of the most satisfying aspects of my job.
  • finding outreach opportunities beyond our project work: working with VT’s Center for Communicating Science (CCS) to develop a series of workshops/sessions on “Story Telling and Sensemaking with Data” ; and helping them set up a data tracking system so they can show impact of their programs and classes.
  • working as lead compliance and data manager on our in-house SAMHSA /CCBHC Evaluation Team* headed by Mary Beth Dunkenberger. Over the past eight years we have been external evaluators on six different SAMHSA grants totaling over 24 million dollars of Federal grant funding for community partners, NRVCS and MRCS. (New River Valley Community Services and Mount Rogers Community Services, respectively). Funding has been used for expanding and improving mental health and substance use treatments and service delivery at these agencies.

*SAMHSA-Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; CCBHC – Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic

BP: What have been the biggest changes that have happened over the years, and your role in implementing those changes?

LA: COVID was a game changer. We had to quickly shift gears to be able to manage us (IPG) and our projects virtually; and to find/learn/implement new ways of communication, file sharing and data collection processes. Platforms like MS TEAMS and REDCap especially came into play during these changes. I worked closely with our IT and university IT to put these in place (and make them available to our external partners), troubleshooting when needed. During the period when no one was able to work on site I continued to come to the IPG office everyday (for almost a year) to help with just “keepin’ on, keepin’ on”. Trying to stay connected and build community was especially a challenge. I’m glad those difficult, traumatic years are behind us.

BP: What are your fondest memories of working at IPG?

LA: I hesitate to start listing these because I couldn’t possibly capture them all; nor pay homage to everyone who has, collectively, made my time at IPG SO memorable. But here goes:

  • Waking up every day (well, most everyday) ready to come to work, to a job (and office) I love and staff/colleagues I enjoy working with; I can’t recall feeling this way about many past jobs;
  • Morning check-ins with IPG admin and business manager,  Billy P. and Megan N. who always have a smile, keeping  me up to date with the latest breaking news such as the VT sports news/scores, Billy’s latest travels and adventures; and most importantly, the new, gluten free girl scout cookie flavor that Megan’s daughter, Addy is selling; have to give a shoutout to IPG’s retired staffers, Nancy W., Karen B. and Regina N.;
  • Getting to know (and work) with our amazing GRAs, Post Docs, visiting scholars, IPG fellows and affiliates, and our wonderful Richmond and Fairfax colleagues.
  • Project related to travel and intrigue (let me just say, what happened on the road, will stay on the road).
  • NOMIng NOMing NOMing with colleagues, Mary Beth D and Laura Taylor; LT - I left the fire chief hat behind in your office in case you or MB needs to put out some NOMs fires.   
  • Nerding out with David Moore and Lara Nagle over data (we’re talking, AI, ACCESS, EXCEL, PIVOT Tables, POWER Query, POWERB and many more).
  • Joni (as in Joni Mitchell) – Max, am not sure how your framed photo ended up in my office, but Joni has been a valued addition (btw - more than one student has asked if it’s a photo of me! I only wish I had that talent!).
  • All the birthday gatherings, celebrations, special events, open houses, and holiday parties including my lovely retirement send-off.

BP: Personally, you have gotten to know your coworkers well over the years. What have those relationships been like?

LA: Wonderful in every way… because of the very high level of trust, concern and caring we share. We can’t really put these as requirements in job postings, but as you know – it becomes apparent very quickly when these are lacking. And personally, I’ve left a few jobs because they are(lacking).

BP: What drew you to stay at IPG all these years?  

LA: People (colleagues/IPGers & community partners), projects (especially community-based ones), personal growth opportunities (too many to even list).

BP: What will you miss the most?  

LA: Maybe NOT “pivoting” every day (though am sure I’ll be doing it at least weekly!). Ha Ha!  Definitely will miss going to the office every day, my IPG colleagues and staff, and being part of (and knowing about) IPG’s ongoing work.  Early morning/lunchtime/afternoon walks and talks on the Huckleberry Trail (so easily accessed from our parking lot).

BP: What are you going to do next? 

LA: Family family family, music, books, home projects; adventures, i.e., hike, travel & romance (with my husband of 50 yrs); That pretty much covers it but I’m open to more suggestions!

BP: As someone who is deeply connected to the local community, what do the Blacksburg and the New River Valley region mean to you?  

LA: Home –it’s a very special place to live in; and especially a great place to have raised a family.

BP: Are there any last thoughts you wanted to add about your time at IPG?

LA: Best job/place I ever worked; sweetest and most heartfelt sendoff anyone could hope for; will always be IPG’s #1 fan – such an honor to have worked at IPG with all of you. In deepest gratitude, LA

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