BENTONVILLE, Ark., Dec. 16, 2019 – The Walton Family Foundation has selected Matthew Carr to serve as the strategy, learning and evaluation director beginning in January 2020. In this role, Carr will be responsible for ensuring the foundation board and staff are provided with accurate, timely data and analysis to support strategic decision-making. Carr brings with him many years of experience in philanthropic evaluation.

Carr joins the foundation from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, where he served as director of evaluation. Previously, he was a senior evaluation officer at the Walton Family Foundation, where his work focused on the evaluation of the foundation’s grantmaking and providing data and analysis to inform strategic decision-making.

Earlier in his career, he was a research analyst at Westat, where he conducted program evaluations of education and workforce development initiatives. Carr was also the director of education policy at the Buckeye Institute, where his research focused on charter schools, school finance and performance-based compensation.

“With extensive experience and knowledge plus a strong reputation in the field, Matthew is a wonderful addition to the foundation team. I look forward to his leadership in shaping our approach to the critical areas of strategy, learning and evaluation,” said Caryl Stern, who will become executive director of the foundation in January 2020.

At the Walton Family Foundation, the Strategy, Learning and Evaluation department plays a central role in providing actionable information to help inform the decision-making about individual grants as well as overall strategies. The foundation is committed to learning from its grantmaking and the experiences of partners in the field. Through a strategic approach to learning, the foundation can develop stronger long-term plans and strategies to achieve the greatest impact.

Carr is a graduate of Kent State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Public Administration. He also obtained a Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Arkansas.

About the Walton Family Foundation
The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses, work together to lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving K-12 education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. In 2018, the foundation awarded more than $595 million in grants in support of these initiatives. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.