Program Evaluation & Policy Research
Veritas Consulting LLC delivers rigorous mixed-methods evaluation, policy research, and capacity building for federal agencies, foundations, and nonprofits — from research design through findings that actually change things.
What we do
We work at the intersection of rigorous research design and the lived reality of the communities at the center of the work. Every engagement is built around the question underneath the question — and the findings that result are ones stakeholders can actually use.
QUAN>qual and qual>QUAN designs, theory of change development, logic models, outcome measurement frameworks, and participatory evaluation approaches that center community voice as primary data.
From identifying funding opportunities to developing program narratives, evaluation plans, and CBPAR-grounded designs. Active SAM.gov registrant, experienced across HHS, DOE, HUD, BSCC, and foundation grantmaking.
Qualitative research with policymakers, agency staff, and community stakeholders. Evidence synthesis, equity-focused measurement frameworks, and research that informs decisions at the federal, state, and local level.
Building evaluative capacity inside organizations — HMIS data management, Apricot, Salesforce-based outcomes systems, staff training, and helping teams move from data collection to genuine organizational learning.
Translating complex findings into accessible, decision-ready formats. GIS mapping, dashboards (Tableau, Power BI, ArcGIS), and reporting designed for the stakeholders who actually need to act on the evidence.
Supporting agencies and nonprofits through program redesign, framework development, and the difficult work of aligning espoused and enacted values — using evaluation as a vehicle for transformation, not just compliance.
Our approach
Outdated metrics, stakeholder priorities disconnected from ground-level reality, and the persistent undervaluation of lived experience as primary data — these are not incidental problems. They are the problem. Our practice is built around surfacing what institutional evaluation consistently misses.
The most important data lives with the people inside the system. Getting to it requires building genuine trust — not a protocol, a relationship.
Phenomenological protocols, causal inference design, community-based participatory research — the right method for the right question, not the easiest one.
Findings that sit in a report are not findings. Everything we produce is designed to be used — by decision-makers, funders, and the communities it concerns.
Equity-focused evaluation is not a framework we apply. It is the reason we do this work — and it shapes every research design decision we make.
Selected work
BSCC / Happier Life Project
Lead evaluation partner on a BSCC-funded BIPOC reentry initiative. Developed program narrative, theory of change, and CBPAR-grounded evaluation plan centering participant voice as primary data in outcome measurement.
National Health Foundation
Designed and led evaluation frameworks across 150 member organizations and 7 health networks. Qualitative inquiry surfaced undocumented safety failures that formal data collection had missed entirely. Findings presented to national policymakers. PI on CDC and NIMRC-aligned research within working groups including Johns Hopkins, UCLA Public Health, and USC.
MacArthur, Rockefeller & Ford Foundations
Conducted primary research with CDC and GAO officials to develop measurement frameworks for equitable grantmaking. Findings informed a Ford Foundation publication on national standards for equitable grant creation.
U.S. Department of Education / CGU
Designed and led a multi-phase mixed-method evaluation. Phenomenological protocols uncovered trauma bonding patterns invisible to existing metrics, directly prompting development of a Gates Foundation-funded data dashboard now pursued for commercialization.
ACLU of Southern California
Trust-based participatory fieldwork with unhoused individuals surfaced documented human rights violations. Findings led the California Attorney General to open a formal investigation into the Riverside County Sheriff's Office.
HHS / SAMHSA / Happier Life Project
Led working groups with HHS and SAMHSA to redesign the national substance use disorder recovery framework. Built evaluation infrastructure to track fidelity and outcomes across a recovery housing network.
About
Founder and Principal of Veritas Consulting LLC. PhD candidate in Educational Evaluation and Research at Claremont Graduate University (MS, Evaluation and Applied Research). A decade of evaluation practice grounded in the belief that the people inside a system are its most important and most undervalued data source.
Recognized by the California Senate and State Assembly for policy influence and systems-level impact in equity, evaluation, and data management. Active participant in the LA Continuum of Care ecosystem.
Mixed-Methods Evaluation · Theory of Change & Logic Models · Causal Inference · Community-Based Participatory Research · Outcomes Measurement · Grant Writing & Proposal Development · Federal Program Compliance · GIS & Data Visualization · R Studio · Stata · NVivo · Qualtrics · Salesforce · HMIS · AI & NLP Analytics · Stakeholder Facilitation · Policy Analysis
Get in touch
Whether you're developing a grant proposal, need an evaluation partner, or are trying to understand what your current data is actually telling you — we'd like to hear from you.
john@veritasconsulting.org