“It was a pleasure working with Lapkoff & Gobalet Demographic Research in establishing our trustee areas with the Census 2000 data, and then realigning them after Census 2010. We were pleased with the quality of their analysis, their responsiveness, and the high-quality, carefully drawn maps. Dr. Gobalet’s presentations of sometimes difficult topics in public hearings and board meetings were clear and helpful. I look forward to working with them again.”

Gregory Taylor, General Counsel
State Center Community College District

“The MPWMD has found your services to be of the highest quality and responsiveness. You provided complete and easy to understand demographic information, responded to questions from the public and staff, and offered suggestions for development of voter divisions that met legal requirements.”

Arlene Tavani, Executive Assistant to the General Manager
Monterey Peninsula Water Management Districtt

“The demographic study was completed in a very professional manner, and was tailored to the unique aspects of the school district. The vast knowledge and experience provided by Lapkoff & Gobalet ensure that the study will be viewed with much credibility. It was a pleasure to work with Shelley Lapkoff on this study. ”

Jerri Bucci, Director, Business Services
Orinda Union School District, Orinda, California

“Lapkoff & Gobalet’s presentation and report took complex information and organized and distilled it in a way that enabled policymakers and the community as a whole to understand the data and appreciate the implications for planning.  We were particularly impressed by their professionalism, insight, and ability to grasp the policy issues and to structure their findings to support collective decision-making.  We are deeply grateful for their contributions to fostering informed understanding and thoughtful dialogue as we plan Emeryville’s Center of Community Life.”

 

Joseph Frantz, Chief Business Official
Emery Unified School District, Emeryville, California

“Lapkoff and Gobalet’s enrollment projections have been accurate to within 1%–astounding! They are quick to respond whenever we have questions or need information.  Shelley and Jeanne are very convincing presenters at our board meetings.  They have made themselves indispensable to our district.”

Randy Kenyon, Assistant Superintendent, Business Services
Los Altos School District, Los Altos, California

“Lapkoff and Gobalet have been producing enrollment projections and other demographic analyses for Palo Alto Unified School District for over 10 years.  They are very good technically, and even more importantly, they are insightful and have wonderful intuition about enrollments and attendance boundary realignments. Shelley Lapkoff has made many appearances here before parent and community groups, as well as the Board of Education.  Her presentations have always been extremely informative, understandable, and astute.  She is a tremendous asset in the area of student demographics and it is a delight to work with her.

Robert Golton, (retired) Deputy Superintendent
Palo Alto Unified School District, Palo Alto, California

“These ladies are the ‘Gold Standard’ and, literally, wrote the book on demographic projections–they are the very best and always professional.”

David R. Cartnal, FAIA
BFGC Architects Planners, Inc.

 

“My professional association with Dr. Shelley Lapkoff and Dr. Jeanne Gobalet extends back well over a decade. With this history, I am fully prepared and willing to attest to their accomplishments as researchers, demographers, communicators, and educators.”

William D. Barr, Ed.D., (former) Monterey County Superintendent of Schools
Monterey County, California

“We were extremely pleased with Lapkoff & Gobalet Demographic Research’s work for our community college district.  Their demographic analysis and report are helpful in big ways:  support for the bond measure, facilities planning, and the accreditation process.  The board is extremely happy and very proud of the report.  Dr. Gobalet made an excellent public presentation to the board.”

Dr. Frances L. White, Superintendent/President
College of Marin, Kentfield, California

“LGDR has provided Castro Valley Unified School District with services related to the demographics of our community for the past 15 years.  These accurate enrollment projections of our needs provide clear, concise, and reliable information for staff and board decisions.  This database has been used effectively to win community support of two general obligation bonds.  Moreover, community surveys have indicated strong community confidence in the financial and demographic data presented by the district which is based on the expertise of LGDR.”

James C. O’Conner, (retired) Deputy Superintendent, Business Services
Castro Valley Unified School District, Castro Valley, California

“While I was Superintendent between 1992 and 2002, Lapkoff & Gobalet Demographic Research, Inc., provided analyses to the San Leandro Unified School District.  Each year we received a valuable, updated demographic analysis that was very useful for our facilities planning.  Dr. Lapkoff’s Board and staff presentations were excellent.  She presented complex and detailed information in an easy-to-understand and interesting way.  I strongly recommend that other school districts consider using the services of Lapkoff and Gobalet to assist them in their long range facilities planning.”

Thomas Himmelberg, (retired) Superintendent
San Leandro Unified School District, San Leandro, California

“We have been pleased to work with Lapkoff & Gobalet since 1992.  They contribute a degree of demographic expertise that we have not had on our staff.  We have used their post censal population estimates for computing rates of many different diseases and conditions.  Their GIS proficiency has been useful for our spatial analyses and mapping.  We highly recommend them to other public health agencies.”

Nhien Thien Luong, MPH
Senior Health Care Program Manager
Santa Clara County Public Health Department
Epidemiology & Data Management Unit

“The San Mateo Union High School District contracted with Lapkoff and Gobalet to assist its administration in making difficult decisions regarding changes in the District’s attendance boundaries. This is a very volatile issue for any school district. Through numerous public presentations, Drs. Gobalet and Lapkoff proved to the Administration, the community, and to the Governing Board of the District that they are experts who excel in producing not only accurate data, but data which are communicated in a multimedia format easily understood by schools and community.”

Samuel Johnson, Jr., Superintendent
San Mateo Union High School District

“The County of San Diego retained Dr. Gobalet as an expert in a trial concerning redistricting, including redistricting software and computer mapping.  Dr. Gobalet has considerable expertise in these areas, and has an educator’s ability to explain complicated technical issues in understandable layperson’s terms.  Moreover, Dr. Gobalet was extremely responsive to our requests for assistance, including helping to develop lines of questioning during testimony and traveling across state on short notice to testify at trial.  We were very satisfied with Dr. Gobalet’s services, and would be pleased to recommend her as an expert.”

Laurie Orange
Senior Deputy County Counsel
Office of County Counsel, County of San Diego

“Thanks again for your excellent presentation for the Board of Directors. It really helped set us on the right trail and led to some very useful conversations over the two-day meeting.”

Oscar F. Porter, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA)
University of California Office of the President
http://www.mesa.ucop.edu/home.html

“Shelley Lapkoff did an excellent job presenting to our group of independent school business officers. They came from all over the country. Shelley’s ability to use demographic information to help our members see the future trends that may impact their schools was terrific! In addition to being informative, the presentation was fun and engaging.”

Sarah P. Daignault, Executive Director
National Business Officers Association

“Your [Shelley Lapkoff’s] presentation of school enrollment forecasts and its crucial role in the second panel made it one of the liveliest and engaging panels we have ever had.  Truly, you made an excellent contribution to the day.”

Julie Parks, Associate Director of the Population Dynamics Research Group Director of the 18th Annual University of Southern California Workshop, “Planning for the Well-Being of Children in California”

“Our staff thoroughly enjoyed the presentation made by Ms. Lapkoff on California demographic trends and their impact on our marketing and communications strategies.  The data she presented through maps and charts was very interesting and applicable to the territory designations with which our staff operates.  She clearly had tailored the information to our specific needs and requests.  Finally, she engaged the audience frequently and effectively through cueing questions posed at the end of each major section.  This sparked considerable discussion among staff that raised pertinent points.  We deemed the session an unqualified success!”

Mary Anne Burkman, MPH, RD
Director, Program Services
Dairy Council of California

“On June 7, 2004, the East Bay Housing Organization (EBHO) sponsored the “Affordable Housing and Education Forum” in which Dr. Shelley Lapkoff developed and presented information on the relationships between affordable housing and public education.  In working with Dr. Lapkoff, we found her responsive, professional, knowledgeable about the issues, and energetic.  Her presentation was effective: interesting and accessible to a wide audience of school administrators, educators, developers, housing advocates, and representatives of community-based organizations.  We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Lapkoff & Gobalet Demographic Research.”

Sean Heron, Executive Director
East Bay Housing Organizations