Shayla Spilker is a research and evaluation consultant with nearly 15 years of experience in public health policy and applied research. Passionate about driving meaningful change, she partners with organizations to embed strategic and evaluative thinking into their efforts to advance equity and systems transformation. Her work centers on promoting health equity and social justice, leveraging a deep understanding of the social determinants of health and the interconnectedness of social issues, identities, and systems that shape community outcomes.

Shayla’s expertise spans health, education, workforce and economic development, along with strategy development and organizational capacity building. Before launching her independent evaluation practice, she worked with California-based research and evaluation firms and held evaluation and programmatic roles within nonprofit and intermediary organizations, building a strong foundation in applied research and community-focused initiatives.

Shayla is a first-generation college student and alumni of Leaders in Equitable Evaluation and Diversity (LEEAD), a leadership and training program for scholars from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups who are dedicated to advancing the field of evaluation. She holds a Master of Science in Public Health from UCLA and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health from UC Berkeley.