Dr. Sonia Jain
An innovative, passionate leader in public health driven to make a difference in the world through meaningful data, Dr Jain, is a seasoned, equity-centred evaluator with 28 years of leading a range of evaluation projects using data to shift mindsets, organizational cultures, and systems across public health, juvenile justice, education, mental health and nonprofits. Collaborative, strengths-based and solution-focused, Dr Jain is a strategic and pragmatic thought partner with a strong multidisciplinary research and evaluation background, excelling in multi-level theory, culturally responsive mixed methods and evidence-based tools. She is passionate about empowering and supporting progressive, integrated systems change, organizational development and implementation of evidence-based practices towards the greatest collective impact. She has designed and led 50-80 projects, ranging from participatory community-based participatory action research projects, empowerment evaluation, implementation science, and results-based accountability to more rigorous quasi- or experimental pre-post comparison group studies. She has co-developed, validated, and administered a variety of data collection tools with high response rates, including culturally relevant surveys, focus groups, interviews, observations, photo voice, and other creative methods to capture the voices of diverse communities and multiple perspectives. She has led data standards and data requests, created large cross-sector datasets across health, justice, and education, and created tech-savvy dashboards. She has conducted numerous trainings and technical assistance efforts, working closely with diverse communities, youth, and stakeholders to build data capacity and improve programs. Dr. Jain has co-authored numerous reports, fact sheets, presentations, and papers on racial health equity, youth development and resilience, mental health, justice systems change, violence prevention, and maternal and child health. She received her Doctorate from Harvard University in Social Epidemiology in 2007 and her MPH from UCLA in Epidemiology in 1998.