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Staff and Partners

Smith & Lehmann Consulting is a woman-owned consulting firm that has been providing creative, inclusive, meticulous, and innovative evaluation and planning services to clients since 2008, utilizing a wide and deeply experienced network of experts in program management and evaluation.

Our Staff  |  Interns  |  Project Partners  |  What We Love

Project Team

Erika Lehmann

Erika Lehmann

President

Erika leads Smith & Lehmann Consulting with extensive experience in research and evaluation for a broad range of public and nonprofit organizations. Her expertise includes policy change, collective impact, systems change, and interagency collaboration for a wide range of public and non-profit programs serving children and families. Erika has presented and published articles for the American Evaluation Association and the United Kingdom Evaluation Society on topics such as the use of qualitative methods to measure interim policy change and on the risks of favoring randomized controlled trials above other evaluation methods. 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

John Smith

Business Operations Manager

John brings 20 years of experience in project management, with 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 has special expertise in clean water access, 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.

Patrick Dorion

Patrick Dorion

Senior Research Associate

Patrick is a trained anthropologist who contributes his broad research expertise and field training to the Smith & Lehmann Consulting team. His experience includes systems change, participatory methodologies, community development, culture change, and ethnographic field methods. Patrick has specific expertise working in Native American Reservation communities, where he has performed evaluations in the areas of criminal justice and small business entrepreneurship, co-designing research and collaborating with non-profit organizations, tribal departments, local institutions, and government agencies. He has participated in several grassroots community initiatives, using research to improve conditions for local people.

Corinne Singleton

Corinne Singleton

Senior Research Associate

Bio coming soon!

Laura Schaffer

Laura Schaffer

Research Analyst | Technical Writer

Laura has diverse experience working on a variety of evaluation projects ranging from health care to energy to social non-profit organizations. She is a skilled quantitative data analyst, reviewing and compiling secondary data sources and collecting, analyzing, and interpreting other quantitative data and statistics into easy to understand visual presentations and reports. She is also adept with interviewing stakeholders, analyzing and combining their words with other data sources to tell a compelling story. Laura is currently obtaining her Masters in Program Evaluation to further hone her skills in evaluation and research.

Scout Black

Scout Black

Research Associate | Community Engagement Specialist

Scout lives in Omaha NE and is passionate about using research to improve the lives of those in their community by evaluating social justice programs. Their educational and professional experiences have focused on society, intersectionality, qualitative research, sexual and reproductive health, and homelessness. They lead Smith & Lehmann’s Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) internship and research assistantship.

Youth Participatory Action Research Team

Our team is also comprised of Youth Participatory Action Research with youth and young adults. Read more about their work and our previous team members here.

Katera Brown

Katera Brown

Research Assistant

Katera studies at Metropolitan Community College and in her spare time volunteers in her community and does photography. Katera’s connections throughout Omaha help us create new organizational allies to better understand the needs and experiences of Omaha youth and young adults.

Molly Ashford

Molly Ashford

Research Assistant

Molly is a student at Central High School and is heavily involved in the school newspaper and community activism. As an aspiring journalist, Molly’s attention to detail and creative writing skills help us communicate findings from our youth research projects to project leadership and the wider community.