Ashley M. Bukach, MPH

Research Associate
Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education
Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences

Ashley currently works with local domestic violence-related agencies to locate, collect, and organize data for the Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Initiative and assists with evaluations of local non-profit organizations that provide services to children and families, conducted through the Partnership for Evaluation, Research, and Implementation (PERI).

She specializes in data management, and her research interests include domestic violence, sexual assault, mental health, and trauma.

Ashley has over seven years of experience working on research and evaluation projects geared toward improving services for vulnerable populations. Prior to working at the Begun Center, Ashley worked as a data coordinator in the CWRU School of Medicine to evaluate interventions developed for individuals with serious mental illness and neurological disorders. Before working at CWRU, Ashley coordinated numerous research studies at the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging focused on elder abuse/domestic violence prevention and improving the direct service workforce that serves those with physical and mental health needs in Ohio.

She received her Bachelor’s degree in psychology from John Carroll University, and her Master’s in Public Health from Cleveland State University. Ashley conducted her Master’s Capstone project on client experience at the Cuyahoga County Family Justice Center, a single location for victims of abuse to access critical services, during 2015, its first year in existence.

Q: Why is your work at the Begun Center important to you, to our community, and to the world? I am passionate about the type of research and evaluation work that we conduct at the Begun Center because it is practical and applied and aims to help under-privileged populations. By helping community-based organizations measure their services and understand how to more effectively and efficiently serve clients, the goal of our work is to provide organizations with real-world information that positively impacts their clients, as well as those who serve them.

Q: What is a cause about which you are particularly passionate? Abuse prevention (primarily domestic violence, but also sexual assault and elder abuse), trauma, and mental health.