Carlos Romero is the Founder, President & CEO of Apex Evaluation. He leads the passionate pursuit of their vision: Evaluation that works. ​With over 30 years of experience in program planning, evaluation, and facilitation, Carlos cultivates and nurtures new and existing relationships with organizations addressing the wicked problems of poverty and income inequality, health and education disparities, and racism and discrimination.

His work at Apex is influenced by theories and methods that include systems thinking, developmental evaluation, principles-focused evaluation, utilization-focused evaluation, participatory evaluation, Results-Based Accountability™, and cultural responsiveness. He strives to make those theories work in the real world – in ways that make data useful and bridge the gaps that often exist between theory and practice, and between research and reality. There is a growing interest in their Systems Learning™ approach, which optimizes evaluation for equity and learning.

This approach to evaluation is always evolving, emphasizing adaptation and agility, efficiency and practicality, integration of evaluation and implementation, effective data visualization, and facilitation of systems thinking. The mindset extends to data systems, including web and mobile apps that support efficient data collection and – more importantly – effective use of data.

Carlos founded Apex in 1999. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and a Master of Business Administration. He cultivates and nurtures relationships with an array of organizations that are addressing barriers to academic, health, and social success for vulnerable children, youth, and their families.