Dr. Norah Wang is the founder and chief researcher of IMPACT ANALYTICS . She obtained her PhD in psychology (focus areas incl. behavioral economics and organizational behavior) from Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2008 and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration and the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong. In 2017, she joined the Department of Applied Social Sciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University as a research assistant professor, and in 2021, she returned to the Centre for Civil Society and Governance at the University of Hong Kong as a research fellow. Dr. Wang's academic research focuses on social innovation, urban commons, collaborative governance, third sector and evidence-based practice.
In November 2020, she founded IA in response to the need for impact evaluation of charitable programmes and corporate ESG programmes. Her focus is to develop evidence-based Theory of Change. Owing to her solid academic training, she draws on prior research and latest discussions to inform the development of Theory of Change and uses innovative research designs and mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) to evidence outcomes, measure impact and refine Theory of Change. Over the past decade, Dr. Wang has designed and participated in program evaluation studies for government agencies (such as the Efficiency Unit), statutory bodies (such as the Hospital Authority), and third sector organizations (such as the Hong Kong Housing Authority, Hong Kong Award for Young People, Oxfam Hong Kong, Hong Kong Council of Social Service). She has also received funding from the Hong Kong government's Innovation and Co-ordination Office Public Policy Research Funding Scheme to evaluate the effectiveness of social service performance management systems. Dr. Wang has also published her impact management understandings with Springer, a prestigious academic publisher.