Steven Lam

CGIAR One Health Initiative. 2022 – present. I am supporting project country teams in applying Theories of Change and Outcome Mapping approaches to evaluation. These activities will produce actionable evaluation findings intended to improve project implementation in a timely manner. Client: The International Livestock Research Institute.

Evaluation planning for the Work and School Transitions Program. 2021 – 2022. Cathexis Consulting is supporting evaluation planning for a program aiming to facilitate transitions to school and work for childhood cancer survivors. I am reviewing the literature for tools measuring mental health and well-being outcomes for this group. Client: Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario.

Evaluation of AgriStability and AgriInvest. 2021. Cathexis Consulting is evaluating two federal programs that help farmers in Canada manage risks from severe income declines. I am conducting interviews with producer associations across Canada and supporting data analysis and reporting. I received Government of Canada Security clearance to support this project. Client: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Evaluation of phase 1 of CANPREPP. 2021. Cathexis Consulting evaluated a new website promoting information on medical residency programs across Canada. I conducted 12 interviews with program representatives, analyzed 358 survey responses, and co-wrote the evaluation report. Client: Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada.

SafePORK program. 2018 – 2021. I worked with the team to implement an evaluation framework for a food safety program in Vietnam. Drawing on theory-driven evaluation, we collected outcomes on a real-time basis to build the program theory and inform decisions. Client: The International Livestock Research Institute.

Safe Food Fair Food (SFFF) project. 2021. SFFF aimed to (i) to generate evidence on the health and economic burden of foodborne diseases in animal-source food value chains and (ii) to pilot a market-based approach to improving food safety in Cambodia. I worked with the SFFF team to co-design and co-implement an evaluation framework. We developed a Theory of Change to help us understand how and why SFFF might be working. Client: The International Livestock Research Institute.

Safer Indigenous pork and healthier ethnic minorities in Vietnam project. 2020. The team conducted a study to explore the change in knowledge, attitudes, and practice after implementing a public health campaign about pork-borne disease prevention. I supported the team in designing the data collection tool and writing a brief. Client: The International Livestock Research Institute.

Sandbox program. 2018. I led the final evaluation of a pilot community-based social entrepreneurship program for students. The evaluation aimed to understand the experiences of students, staff, and community partners engaged in the program. I conducted key informant interviews and wrote the evaluation report. Client: Community Engaged Scholarship Institute.

Systems Approach to Improve and Sustain Food Security (SATISFY) project. 2017. Harry Cummings and Associates conducted a final evaluation of the SATISFY project in West Africa (Mali, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Senegal) to assess for project effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, and sustainability. To meet the needs of the evaluation, results-based management was used. I supported quantitative data analysis of nearly 4,000 household surveys using SPSS. Client: World Vision Canada.

Headwaters Food and Farming Alliance program. 2017. Harry Cummings and Associates developed and implemented a collaborative evaluation to inform program implementation and address sustainability considerations. I facilitated two focus group discussions with parents and children, analyzed the data, and wrote the report. Client: Headwaters Communities in Action.

Scaling Up Good Food Markets program. 2017. Harry Cummings and Associates developed an evaluation to determine whether the scaled-up model is effective and can be reproduced in other areas. I supported the development and implementation of the monitoring and evaluation plan. The evaluation approach included a community consultation, baseline survey, focus group discussions, and endline survey. Client: FoodShare Toronto.

Promoting locally fortified sunflower oil using e-vouchers project. 2017. Harry Cummings and Associates conducted a study to assess the economic viability of promoting vitamin-A fortified sunflower oil using e-vouchers. I supported field visits to Tanzania’s Manyara and Shinyanga regions and co-conducted 21 interviews with small and medium-sized sunflower oil producers, distributors, and retailers. I also supported the writing of a business case and a manuscript. Client: Mennonite Economic Development Associates.

Reducing disease risk and improving food safety in smallholder pig value chains in Vietnam (PigRISK) project. 2017. I led the final evaluation which aimed to understand PigRISK’s outcomes and lessons learned. Drawing on outcome harvesting, I conducted interviews, focus group discussions, and observations in Hanoi, Hung Yen, and Nghe An. Client: International Livestock Research Institute.

Vietnam animal health reporting system. 2016. I supported an evaluation which aimed to understand stakeholder perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to animal disease reporting in Vietnam. I supported the lead evaluator in designing the evaluation, analyzing the interview data, and reporting the findings. Client: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Ecohealth Field-building Leadership Initiative in Southeast Asia (FBLI). 2016. I supported the final evaluation of FBLI which aimed to synthesize research and intervention findings. Drawing on outcome harvesting, I worked with the lead evaluator to co-conducted interviews, focus group discussions, and observations in Vietnam, China, Indonesia, and Thailand. Client: Center for Public Health and Ecosystem Research.