LAUREN DODS, MPH

Owner
Program Evaluation & Qualitative Research Consultant

I've spent two decades working at the intersection of program evaluation, policy, and community-engaged research. My north star is addressing disparities in public and social sector systems by generating rigorous evidence that advances systemic change.I work independently through Dods Consulting and as Director of Evaluation Strategy at Behavioral Health Evaluation Strategies and Senior Evaluation Associate at Clarus Research. Through these firms and earlier roles, I’ve worked on evaluations ranging from single-county studies to statewide, national, and international multi-site designs for government agencies, foundations, universities, and national nonprofits. My work spans child welfare and family services, early childhood and education systems, homelessness, behavioral health, restorative justice, rural health, and anti-trafficking.

EXPERIENCE

These evaluations were conducted for organizations including the EEOC Office of Inspector General, the NYC Mayor's Children’s Cabinet, the National Science Foundation, California Department of Health Care Services, Depaul International, First 5 LA, Casey Family Programs, Building Changes, Fairfax County, Missoula Public Health, Polaris, Oklahoma Human Services, the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), and the University of Southern California (USC).Most of the studies I work on are mixed methods, and I contribute across the arc of the study. On the quantitative side, I handle survey design and programming, recruitment and administration, conducting cognitive and usability testing, and descriptive analysis. The qualitative side is where I’m strongest. I lead these components from soup to nuts: designing the approach, developing instruments, recruiting participants, conducting interviews, facilitating focus groups, analyzing data, and writing and presenting findings. I enjoy cross-method synthesis where data visualization and clear communication turn findings into insights decision-makers can act on. Much of my work involves reaching people whose experiences are hardest to capture, such as caregivers in the child welfare system, youth and families accessing behavioral health services, young adults leaving foster care, and families in housing crisis.Previously, I was a Senior Legislative Assistant in U.S. Representative Colleen Hanabusa’s field office, managing a portfolio across health and human services, education, public housing, foreign affairs, and civil rights, and resolving hundreds of constituent cases with federal, state, and local agencies. Casework and community engagement are where I learned how a policy actually affects a person and a community, both when it works and when it doesn’t. This experience shaped my conviction that evaluation belongs alongside the design of policies and programs, informing decisions while they're still being made rather than arriving only at the end to render a verdict.

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