Regional Evaluator Directory

Dr. Ferreira-Pinto is a health research expert with more than 25 years of experience conducting evaluations for government and non-profit organizations at multiple levels. He has served as Principal Investigator, evaluator, and consultant on numerous grants, and as Director of Research for the College of Health Sciences, he supports faculty in developing and implementing research plans. Through his leadership at CIHRE, he collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to evaluate areas such as transportation services, public perceptions of law enforcement, and health programs addressing issues like substance abuse and HIV. Trained in mixed methods, he has applied a range of quantitative and qualitative approaches—including surveys, Delphi techniques, clustering, network analysis, focus groups, interviews, and media-based data collection—to generate and validate research insights.

Dr. Lizely Madrigal-Gonzalez is an evaluation and research professional with advanced expertise in qualitative and quantitative methods, data analysis, educational research, and policy evaluation. She holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership with a focus on Policy, Evaluation, and Technology, as well as two master’s degrees in Sociology and Public Administration. Currently serving as the Strategic Performance Manager for the County of El Paso, she oversees the countywide performance management system and previously led multimillion dollar federal project evaluations as a Senior Program Evaluator at UTEP. She also teaches in the Chicano Studies Department and brings additional experience from roles in K–12 education, economic development organizations, and regional workforce initiatives, including serving as an external evaluator for Workforce Solutions Borderplex.

Dr. Mangadu is a public health evaluation specialist with over 15 years of experience designing and implementing community-based evaluations addressing health disparities in U.S.–Mexico border communities. She has assessed programs focused on HIV, substance abuse, obesity, diabetes, environmental health, women’s health, violence prevention, school health, and healthy living, along with curriculum evaluation and student success assessment in higher education. Her work includes process and outcome evaluations using logic models, needs assessments, SWOT analyses, community mapping, fidelity assessments, and collective impact approaches, supported by mixed methods and strategies such as Community-Based Participatory Research, Photovoice, and social marketing technologies. Dr. Mangadu has evaluated projects funded by local, national, and international agencies—including the Paso del Norte Health Foundation, HRSA, the U.S. Office of Women’s Health, and PAHO—and currently serves as Principal or co Principal Investigator on public health programs funded by HHS, the Paso del Norte Health Foundation, and the Department of Justice.

Dr. Jonathan L. Meyer is an evaluation specialist and owner of JLM Research and Evaluation with extensive experience developing program evaluation models in the U.S. and internationally. He primarily applies an empowerment evaluation approach for organizations serving vulnerable women, children, families, and refugees, including work in Romania and on a federal initiative in Moldova to design a supervision model for 1,000 new social workers. In the U.S., he has evaluated federally funded programs supporting underserved U.S.–Mexico border communities—particularly women and children in colonias—as well as urban populations in San Antonio and Houston, and currently collaborates with organizations focused on breast cancer and NASA-funded STEM education. Dr. Meyer serves as President of the Texas Evaluation Network and frequently presents at local, state, and national levels on program evaluation, resiliency, and strengthening social determinants of maternal and child health.

Dr. Strobach Oronoz serves as an evaluator for the El Paso Independent School district. She oversees programs ranging from curriculum development to top-dollar initiatives. Her expertise is in quantitative methodology. She holds a graduate certificate in quantitative methodology in topics ranging from research design to complex statistical analyses. Her doctoral degree is in experimental psychology with an emphasis on bilingualism. Dr. Strobach Oronoz has created and validated survey instruments and has been working on developing mixed-model designs to deal with the complexity and range of data available to educational agencies while maximizing the use of qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

Dr. Rodolfo Rincones has 26 years of experience conducting research and program evaluations for school districts, universities, and community colleges. He has evaluated a wide range of state and federally funded K–12 programs—including bilingual and compensatory education, dyslexia services, STEM initiatives, computer-assisted learning, ubiquitous computing, and after school programs—as well as policy implementation efforts such as school reconstitution, boundary rezoning, and early college high schools. Since 2005, he has led evaluations of GEAR UP programs supporting college readiness and the K–12 to higher education transition, and in higher education has assessed teacher preparation and STEM-focused programs such as UTEACH, T STEM, MAT degrees, dual engineering master’s programs, and study abroad initiatives. He has also evaluated community college programs like RISE and DHS Bridge, developing comprehensive evaluation plans that include research design, effectiveness indicators, and customized data collection tools. Dr. Rincones is highly skilled in both quantitative and qualitative methods, a wide range of data collection techniques, and effective data reporting and visualization.

Helix Solutions, founded in 2007 to address the region’s need for evaluation capacity in Far West Texas and Southern New Mexico, provides comprehensive evaluation services for educational and community-focused projects. Under the leadership of principal consultant Christopher Villa, the firm has evaluated programs for organizations such as the Center Against Family Violence, Child Crisis Center of El Paso, the City of El Paso, Creative Kids, NMSU, Project Vida, UTEP, and Ysleta ISD. Mr. Villa’s work includes needs assessments, survey design, data collection strategies, qualitative and quantitative analysis, database development, IRB documentation, and visually rich reporting, using methods ranging from pretest–posttest designs to interviews and focus groups. Helix Solutions notably evaluated UTEP’s MHIRT program from 2008–2015, providing findings that led to improved implementation and participant satisfaction. Supported by graduate training in public and business administration, Mr. Villa has guided the firm’s role as an external evaluator for grants funded by NIH, NSF, NCMHD, the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, and private foundations.