Samantha W. Ball is a senior research associate at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute where she provides research, analysis, facilitation, survey work, and instruction on a range of subjects including public policy and deliberative community engagement.

As project lead, Dr. Ball guided, facilitated, and created content to advance the Health and Human Services Consolidation Steering Committee’s unification process in 2021. Dr. Ball was the lead author of the Gardner Policy Institute’s 2020 report on Early Childhood Mental Health in Utah; provided analysis and facilitated discussion groups and for the Gardner Institute’s 2019 report on Utah’s Mental Health System; and advanced informed non-partisan public deliberation through the Gardner Policy Institute’s role as a Kettering Foundation Center for Public Life, including convening diverse groups of parents throughout the state to discuss experiences with early childhood services for the 2019 Preschool Development Grant project.  Other research has focused on survey and research topics related to Utah’s health, human service, civic, and economic needs.

Dr. Ball holds a B.A. in Political Science from UCLA, a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown University, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Utah. Prior to working at the Gardner Policy Institute, Dr. Ball worked in Washington DC as a Congressional legislative assistant and as a program analyst at the Department of Education and at the Department of Health and Human Services. She has also served as an adjunct instructor in Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Utah.