Our small, woman-owned management and evaluation firm is staffed with cross-disciplinary professionals who are committed to innovative research. Our staff has extensive experience working with non-profit, community-based, policy/advocacy, governmental, non-governmental, and private sector stakeholders. Staff competencies include evaluation, anthropology, education, ecology, statistics, psychology, information studies, industrial relations, communications, epidemiology, and sociology. This varied skill-set allows us to draw upon the most appropriate methods for each project.  

Our Principals

Erika Lehmann, PhD, is the owner of Smith & Lehmann Consulting. Erika has extensive experience in strategic planning, evaluation, and research for a broad range of public and nonprofit organizations. Her special expertise is in using a wide array of qualitative and quantitative tools to relate an organization’s story. Erika also has experience facilitating workshops and providing technical assistance on evaluation to nonprofit staff and managers.

Erika’s content experience includes organizational functioning, environmental justice, programs for infants and children, women’s health, mental health, domestic violence, alcohol and other drugs, early childhood education, HIV/AIDS and other STIs, and homelessness. Erika has taught Program Evaluation and Public Health Ethics at UC Davis and has published articles on homelessness. Erika has also served as a board member and volunteer for a nonprofit organization providing support for at-risk mothers.

 John Smith, MS, brings 20 years of experience in project management. John has extensive skills with strategic planning, project and personnel management, time management, fiscal management, and relationship-building with colleagues and policy makers in public and private sectors. His efficient, solution-oriented approach keeps Smith & Lehmann focused on the best results for every client.

John also has special expertise in environmental health. He has been involved in cancer cluster studies, public-awareness programs around environmental issues, and environmental hazard assessment. John has international environmental experience, having evaluated environmental technologies appropriate for use in low-tech communities in India and Kenya. John has been an active volunteer and coach in youth soccer for nearly 20 years.

Marisol Ayala, BS, is a highly motivated researcher experienced in program evaluation and needs assessment. She is an effective cross-cultural communicator with strong interpersonal skills. Marisol has worked with individuals, families, and groups in a variety of settings. She has a demonstrated ability to motivate people, a professional attitude, an ingrained work ethic, and pride in personal performance. Marisol is an excellent interviewer and a bilingual Spanish speaker.

Brenda Elvine-Kreis, MA, has worked in both academic and applied research settings for more than 13 years. This myriad experience has led to her proficiency working with quantitative and qualitative data. Her greatest strengths lie in her ability to create and maintain complex databases, analyze and interpret data, and concisely summarize important findings in reports. Brenda brings experience working with multicultural evaluations of early childhood education, prenatal care promotion, infant health promotion, alcohol and drug abuse prevention, and obesity reduction programs.

Jessica Kelly, BS, is an editorial specialist with more than 25 years of marketing and technical communications experience, in both FORTUNE 500 firms and nonprofit organizations, from high technology to higher education to the performing arts. Jessica is resourceful, deadline-oriented, and meticulous, efficiently developing targeted, effective content and strategies to meet a range of communication goals. Her expertise encompasses the spheres of marketing and branding, public relations and social media, research and reporting, and writing and editing, including style management and publication scheduling.

Myrlit Milan, MS, has extensive experience in project planning, management, monitoring, and evaluation. She also holds professional certifications in special education and possesses expertise in curriculum planning and instruction, with a special focus on life-skills training. She has additional certifications and experience in business planning for nonprofits and organizational development. She has provided consultancy and coaching services to nonprofits and grassroots communities, and coordinated and facilitated management of special projects and evaluation training for low-income groups in the Philippines, where she also gained experience in formulating and executing mass communication plans for small businesses and cooperatives. Myrlit is a board member of Restoration Roads Ministry, which provides holistic programs to homeless young adults registered in the public school system.

Ron Strochlic, MS, specializes in qualitative approaches to environmental issues. He has designed and directed numerous participatory evaluation projects since 1988, with particular expertise in studies of agricultural workers in California. He is bilingual in English and Spanish, having spent 7 years as a program coordinator and consultant in Guatemala.  Prior to joining Smith & Lehmann Consulting, Ron was Executive Director at the California Institute for Rural Studies.

Jennifer Sweeney, MSLS, PhD, has more than 12 years of experience designing and leading mixed-method assessment research for libraries and K-16 educational programs. Jen is particularly knowledgeable in workforce skill development, planning, programming, cost analysis, and community needs assessments in academic, public, and special libraries. In the education sector, she has evaluated interventions to improve minority student success in the sciences, and she has conducted assessments of statewide reading and literacy programs in California public libraries. She is a highly skilled project manager, interviewer, and focus group facilitator, who presents regularly at professional conferences and publishes in peer-reviewed journals.

Zipora Weinbaum, PhD, has participated in statewide health program evaluations, surveillance projects, and research studies in California for more than 20 years. Her experience and knowledge of ecology, environmental health, and public health enable her to create evaluations that are sensitive to a variety of political and environmental factors. She is highly proficient at creating evaluation designs for statewide health promotion programs and at building local capacity for evaluation. She has worked on statewide domestic violence, tobacco prevention, adolescent health, infant health, and women's health evaluations. Zipora has also published peer-reviewed articles on environmental exposures, domestic violence, and youth tobacco use prevention.