Biography

Biography

Maritza Concha is an Associate Lecturer at the School of Public Administration. For the past 20 years, Dr. Concha has worked as an evaluator for local non-profits serving Latino/a immigrants. Her other interests include service partnerships and evaluating projects for human services as well as artificial intelligence for organizational transformation. She recently obtained a certificate in Applied Generative AI Specialization from Purdue University and is currently completing an Agentic AI certificate with MIT. She is a member of the Advancing Collaborative Evaluation (ACE) Network funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and actively participates in the American Evaluation Association. Dr. Concha served as the Director of the Center for Public and Nonprofit Management from 2021 to 2024. Currently, she leads the Applied AI Innovation Initiative under the School of Public Administration, focusing on AI in educational and behavioral interventions.

Areas of Expertise
  • Program evaluation
  • Community participatory action research
  • Capacity building
  • Artificial Intelligence for organizational transformations
Education

Ph.D. in Public Affairs
University of Central Florida

Research

Research Interests
  • Community participatory action research
  • Lived experiences of vulnerable populations
  • Acculturation
  • Non-profit capacity building
  • AI training and implementation
Current Funded Projects
  • Orange Citizens’ Commission for Children - Technical Assistance AI Capacity Building Program (PI) Amount requested: $600,627 (Awarded from 2025-2027).
  • Florida International University: Cybersecurity training (PI) Amount requested: $183,757 (Awarded in 2024) and renewed in 2025 ($150,000).
  • Orange Citizens’ Commission for Children – Financial Management (PI) (Amount requested: $ 525,000- Awarded from 2023-2025; renewal under review).
  • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (Co-PI) (Amount requested: $ 379,946- Awarded in 2023-2025).

Service

  • Member of the American Evaluation Association (AEA)
  • Member of the Red de Seguimiento, Evaluación y Sistematización de America Latina y el Caribe (RELAC) (Latin American and Caribbean Evaluation Association)
  • Member of the Advancing Collaborative Evaluation (ACE) Network