Pemberton Research was founded in 2010 by Mark Dynarski, who previously was a vice president at Mathematica Policy Research, director of the What Works Clearinghouse, and a director and principal investigator of national  evaluations of dropout prevention programs, community based initiatives, youth programs, after-school programs, and educational technology products.

Mark is an advisor to government agencies, philanthropies, and nonprofit organizations, and reviews research and evaluation designs for a range of organizations.