Thoughtful decision-making begins with listening.

Organizations know that the success of any program, service, or initiative depends on its value to those being served. Building, maintaining, and scaling these high-value, high-impact efforts begin with listening to the community of stakeholders and communicating its diverse perspectives. Luminary exists to serve organizations who understand this, but may lack the time, capacity, or expertise to engage in the comprehensive data collection and analysis they need. We partner with our clients to prioritize the critical data that will help them move forward thoughtfully. Our results contribute to confident decision-making that reflects the voices of all stakeholders.

Alison LaRocca, President and CEO

Alison draws on more than 15 years of evaluation and advisement experience as she partners with nonprofit organizations and funders nationwide to harness the power of data and improve outcomes for families and children.  

 Alison believes that evaluation is a participatory journey and is most meaningful when organizations serve as partners, with their collective wisdom and experience elevated throughout the process. It is with this belief that Alison personally leads and conducts the design and execution of all of Luminary’s engagements. Over the course of her career, she has led more than 50 evaluation projects for foundations and nonprofits of every size and scale across the country. Her areas of evaluation expertise span the public serving sector with a focus on early childhood education, post-secondary readiness and success, homelessness, adult coaching and education, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Alison began her career as a classroom teacher at the Community Day Charter Public School in Lawrence, MA. She has also consulted with multiple schools on using performance data to improve student progress and crafting new, cost-effective learning tools and techniques. 

 Equipped with this experience, Alison transitioned from the classroom to management consulting, joining Civitas Strategies. In 2017, Alison led the effort to establish Luminary with a mission to help more nonprofits and public-serving agencies connect with accessible and meaningful evaluation opportunities.

 Alison is a proud graduate of Williams College, where she majored in History and received the Hubbard A. Hutchinson fellowship in dance. She holds a Master’s in Elementary Education from Merrimack College and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Evaluation, Measurement, and Research at Western Michigan University.

Abby King, Consulting Partner

Abby King is an award-winning educator and non-profit consultant providing hard-won expertise in school and non-profit leadership, executive coaching, talent acquisition, program evaluation, human resources, and strategy design. Abby is deeply committed to providing service and support to on-the-ground practitioners working in the nation's most under-served communities.

Abby began her career as a Teach for America corps member in New Orleans, LA, where she spent 3+ years teaching both general and special education at the elementary level. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Abby moved north to Boston, where she initially served as  Milieu Coordinator for the globally acclaimed Manville School at the Judge Baker Children’s Center. She subsequently returned to the classroom, joining the faculty at the Community Day Charter Public School in Lawrence, MA.  While at CDCPS, Abby was awarded an EPIC Spotlight Teacher of the Year Award for academic excellence. From 2012-2015, Abby served as Founding Head of School of Community Day Charter Public School – Gateway, where she enjoyed three years leading a team of talented teachers, grades pre-K to 3rd, towards consistently closing the statewide achievement gap for low-income students.

Following her family’s 2015 move to Maine, Abby utilized her expertise and continued passion for supporting quality public education as the sole proprietor of ADK Consulting.  Clients included the Community Day Charter School network, Schoolworks LLC, The Achievement Network, Martin Luther King Charter School of Excellence, and Luminary Evaluation Group. She also served as Senior Consultant and Director of Talent Acquisition for Civitas Strategies, a management consultancy, where she successfully spearheaded nationwide executive searches for multiple nonprofits and played an instrumental role in the development and codification of the firm’s keystone strategic planning process.  After taking a Covid-era pause to focus on her children’s education, Abby is thrilled to return to the field of nonprofit management consulting!

Abby currently lives in Brunswick, Maine, a town of 22,000 residents, with her husband and two sons. In 2021 Abby was elected to the Brunswick Town Council, and currently serves as Chair. In this role, Abby continues her work as a leader in public service, regularly partnering with state, regional, and local nonprofits, including the United Way of Midcoast Maine, the Immigrant Resource Center of Maine, Brunswick Public Schools, Midcoast Hospital Community Health, Tedford Housing, and The Gathering Place to improve the quality of life for all residents. She co-founded the town’s Affordable Housing Committee and $1M Housing Support Fund, and has played an integral role in the town’s growing efforts to provide support services for both the unhoused and asylum seekers relocating to midcoast Maine. Abby holds a Bachelor of Arts from Skidmore College and Master’s Degrees from Harvard University and Xavier University of Louisiana.