WHO WE ARE

---

Janet Mancini Billson, PhD, CCS

GDI Director

As founder and Director of Group Dimensions International, Billson has consulted for over 35 years in organizational development, international development, resettlement, and social policy. She is known for deftly bringing out both practical and theoretical analyses of qualitative data drawn from key informant, executive, and focus group interviews. Her clients include foundations, hospitals, universities, and government agencies in Canada and the U.S; the World Bank Group, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the African Development Bank; Canada’s International Development Research Centre; and the World Food Program, UNESCAP, and UNWomen. She recently conducted a qualitative study to evaluate the World Bank’s Group’s Global Gender Strategy and another study to assess the IFC’s investment role in private education in developing countries. She also conducted a rapid research study, “What Works in Higher Education? An Analysis of Indicators Supported by Research,” for the Independent Evaluation Group, World Bank. 

Billson's previous work in education has included evaluation of STEM field programs offered through Brown and Harvard universities to transition high school students into university, 

Billson is former Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies at Rhode Island College and The George Washington University (where she continues as Professorial Lecturer). She received her graduate degrees in Sociology from Brandeis University under Woodrow Wilson and NIMH Field Work Fellowships. 

She has lectured widely on women in development, female well-being, 

refugee resettlement, and the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals. 

Billson is the recipient of several national awards in applied sociology, including the Lester F. Ward Distinguished Contributions to Applied and Clinical Sociology Award, the Stuart A. Rice Career Achievement Award, the Lifetime Award for Sociological Practice, and Alumni of the Year Award, Baldwin-Wallace College. She has lectured widely on women in development, female well-being, refugees, resettlement, 

and the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals. Her keynote speech for the 2019 AACS Annual Meeting focused on the Sustainable Development Goals as a roadmap for sociological practice. 

As a Visiting Scholar at the Well-Being in Developing Countries Research Group, University of Bath, and Honorary Research Fellow, University of Exeter, England, Billson has developed a clear focus on international development, refugee policy issues, and the concept of well-being. She is currently an External Affiliate, Centre for Refugee Studies, York University, Toronto, and an Affiliate Member of the Canadian-American Center, University of Maine, Orono. She was named Killam Visiting Professor in Canadian Studies, Minnoch Center for Global Exchange, Bridgewater State University (2021). 

Author of several books on identity, marginality, resettlement, and social change, Billson's recent work includes: 

Refugee Pathways to Freedom: Escaping Persecution and Statelessness (Bloomsbury, 2024); 

Refugee Pathways to Peace: Escaping the Chaos of War (Bloomsbury, 2025); 

People of Peace: The Doukhobor Search for Freedom in Canada (University of British Columbia Press, 2026). 

She is also author of:

Keepers of the Culture: The Power of Tradition in Women's Lives, based on interviews with indigenous, immigrant, and religious minority women in Canada, 

and co-author of:

Female Well-Being: Towards a Global Theory of Social Change with Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban; 

Inuit Women: Their Powerful Spirit in A Century of Change with Kyra Mancini; 

and Cool Pose: Dilemmas of Black Manhood in America with Richard Majors.

Consulting work has taken Billson to over 40 countries, which has given her a broad view of global issues, global compacts, and the international bodies that are meant to address them. Born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, she spent her adolescence in British Columbia. At 16, she moved to Washington, DC, where her father was posted with the Canadian Army. She is a dual Canada-US citizen and lives in Saco, Maine.

Sophia Catsambis, PhD, 

GDI  Associate--Data Analytics and Applied Social Research

Sophia Catsambis is Professor Emerita of Sociology at Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). She received her Ph.D. from New York University. For over 30 years, she trained undergraduate and graduate students in data analytics and statistics. At Queens College, she served as Director of the MA Program in Data Analytics and Applied Social Research. Her work addresses national equity concerns in education through large-scale longitudinal survey data. Catsambis has studied gender and race differences in STEM performance and opportunity; inter-relationships among family, community, and school; ability grouping and tracking in elementary and secondary education; parental involvement in secondary education; and social equality in higher education access. Her work has received national attention and has been published in major educational peer reviewed journals.

Catsambis has received major research awards, including a National Institute of Health (NICHD) Research Award, National Institute of Health (NICHD) Collaborative Research Award, NSF Research Awards, and the AERA Jeanne Griffith Fellowship at NCES, U.S. Department of Education. She has also received an AERA Research Award and research contracts from various organizations related to education, including a Ford Foundation Diversity Initiative and a Queens College Research Mentoring Grant. 

Catsambis has served in many honorific positions such as Research Associate and then Visiting Scholar, 

Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR) at Johns Hopkins University, and Research Consultant at the Office of Institutional Research, CUNY. As author of dozens of articles and research reports in the field of education, she has also served on the editorial board of Sociology of Education, the NSF National Review Panel, the National Advisory Research Panel for NHES Survey, NCES, U.S.DOE, and the National Advisory Research Panel, AAUW. 

Catsambis, a dual Greece-US citizen,  lives in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Shubham Grupta

GDI Research Assistant, Needs Assessments and Impact Studies, India

Shubham Gupta is a seasoned Senior Manager with over nine years of progressive leadership in start-ups and non-profits. Proven expertise in needs assessments, impact studies and data analysis, operations, and cross-functional team leadership. Gupta specializes in development and implementation of detailed project plans for solarization initiatives in rural public health clinics and schools. He works primarily in India, designing and conducting multi-phase impact evaluations, including: 

>Baseline surveys to assess pre-intervention status and community energy needs.

>Midline and endline surveys to measure improvements in healthcare delivery, school attendance, nighttime safety, and women's productivity.

>Focus group discussions to gather qualitative insights on community perception and system benefits.

>Analyzing quantitative and qualitative data to derive impact metrics, such as reduced outage hours, increased patient throughput, extended study hours, and reduction in kerosene dependency.

>Cultivating and maintaining partnerships with local organizations, academic institutions, government bodies, and other stakeholders to enhance project outcomes.

>Contributing to strategic planning, aligning projects with the organization’s long-term goals and identifying new opportunities for project development and expansion.

With an MBA in Supply Chain Management and broad experience on the ground, Gupta brings a unique perspective to technically oriented impact evaluations.