Thought Partners for
Social Innovators

The ORS Impact team has earned a global reputation for leadership, insight and innovation. We work collaboratively with our clients, bringing our distinctive expertise in planning, measurement and evaluation to their most vexing challenges.

Anita Thomas , DSocSci, GISP (she/her)

Consultant


Anita is a mixed methods researcher committed to identifying equitable strategies to prevent and alleviate poverty.  She specializes in mapping and analyzing systems to identify patterns in the spatial distribution of needs and resources.  This context strengthens her understanding of individual lived experiences and perspectives.

Anita joined ORS Impact in 2024 from the Social IMPACT Research Center (formerly at Heartland Alliance), where she managed research projects across poverty issue areas, including homelessness, food insecurity, and criminal justice.  She also worked at IFF, a Community Development Financial Institution, where she contributed to community development research, internal impact measurement, and participatory grantmaking.  Her approach to social impact work is shaped by her early career experience with mapping and spatial analysis that resulted in her Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP) certification.

Anita holds a Doctor of Social Science in Prevention Science (DSocSci) degree from Wilmington University, where her dissertation research identified patterns in the spatial distribution of employment needs and resources among people with disabilities in Chicago to inform recommendations for community-based employment interventions.  Anita lives in Chicago and enjoys volunteering, arts & culture, and spending time with family.