Expertise

Geri Lynn Peak, Dr.P.H. seeks to weave together innovation and insight in service and support of programs working to better our world by supporting and promoting the empowerment of young people, women, families and communities. A member of the American Evaluation Association, program evaluation is her primary professional focus. as an independent consultant, she has the freedom to focus on serving clients needs.  She has worked in program evaluation, applied research and technical assistance support (including training, expert assessment and group facilitation) for 20 years, founding Two Gems Consulting Services in 1997. She works with academic institutions, public and private agencies, local programs and foundations to provide a variety of service supports. She is sought out as an expert trainer and qualitative researcher, particularly for her expertise in  the concept mapping approach to data management and analysis.  Her work products include: Design and conduct of evaluations; Creation of conceptual frameworks such as theories of change and logic models based on true program vision, intentions and operations; Generation of core operating principles from stakeholder input and customized measures, tools and results based upon those core operating principles; & Development of accessible guides and tools for conducting evaluation aimed towards practitioners. As an innovator she has developed two new approaches to evaluation through the openness, willingness and courage of  a core group of creative, open and trusting clients: virtues evaluation and moving measures.

Background

Dr. Peak holds a Doctor of Public Health from The Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, and a Masters of Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles. Formerly, she co-founded and served as the Managing Director of the Center for Applied Research and Technical Assistance, served as the Research Associate for Baltimore City Healthy Start and was promoted into the position of the Director of Evaluation at Advocates for Youth. She promotes racial understanding and healing through the Awareness to Action consulting team and is a Virtues Project(tm) facilitator. She taught Program Evaluation during the Population and Family Health Sciences Summer Institute at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health for six years. She serves as an elected member of the local administrative institution for the Baltimore Bahá’í community, as a governing board member of  the Crimson Ark Regional Training Institute, the Feline Rescue Association, and Fellowship of Lights, Youth and Community Services. She works directly with young people and adults to provide practical, artistic and spiritual enrichment activities on a volunteer basis, including as lead "animator" of the Blackberri Junior Youth Empowerment Group. Her undergraduate career balanced biochemistry and dance majors—she continues to balance artistic interests with intellectual pursuits through Jamila Designs, as well as through dance and poetry. View a copy of Geri's curriculum vita by clicking here.

Commitment

A mother of middle school-aged children, Geri is committed to the positive development of all facets of young people and their families — spiritual, physical, emotional, intellectual, social — as well as the promotion of their understanding of and contribution towards the collective good. She is committed to the oneness of the human family and to creating a body of work that promotes and assists our best efforts to live in peaceful service to one another, planet-wide. She is committed to unity in diversity and to interdependence as captured in the expression "Harambee", which translates to "we all pull together." She is also committed to bringing universal virtues to her work and life, applying the tools and techniques of the Virtues ProjectTM  through her professional activities and in learning and sharing how to nurture a vital and dynamic work environment while promoting excellence.

Lifestyle
	A fiber artist, poet, dancer, jewelry designer and avid organic vegetable gardener, Geri resides in Baltimore, Maryland with her husband, twin daughters, three cats, four computers, three spinning wheels, one loom, one Android OS-powered G1 smartphone and a diminishing amount of clutter.