People-centered,
Systems Change
Putting Quality in Qualitative Research
Qualitative research, when done well, answers the "why" behind the numbers—why a program isn't reaching people, why behavior isn't changing, why a solution that looks good on paper fails in practice. Riley holds a high bar for how qualitative work gets done, from formative research through analysis and dissemination.
My Approach
Bridging Capacity
Capacity building, the idea that the expert transfers skills to the partner, is stale. Riley's approach to capacity bridging acknowledges that skills and knowledge transfer is multi-directional. Whether supporting implementation teams in Zambia, government officers in the Philippines, or advocates in Laos, the goal is exchange—sharing lived experience and professional skills for reciprocal capacity strengthening.
Investing in Relationships
The best work happens through trust built over time, not transactions. Whether designing research tools with community members, running theory of change sessions with implementing partners, or volunteering, Riley consistently invests in the relationship as a critical component of any project.
Focus Areas
Sustainable systems change starts with the people who make those systems run. Whether a clinician, farmer, logistics technician, community health volunteer, retailer, or government decision maker—each brings knowledge, constraints, and perspective that shapes how a system actually functions. Riley works with the people inside health and food systems to understand what's working, what isn't, and why—and to identify, test, and refine practical, sustainable solutions.
How Social Connection Shapes Health
Social connection is often assumed rather than deliberately designed for in health and food systems programming. Peer groups, community health volunteers, and group-based models are widely used, but the relationship between these models and outcomes like wellbeing and mental health remains underleveraged as a focus of research and programming. Riley is interested in work that takes social connection seriously as a driver of health and wellbeing, across contexts and populations.
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is most valuable when it's built into a program from the start, not added at the end. Riley's M&E work spans from process evaluation—understanding how a program is functioning and why—to national system-level measurement, including validating survey tools and tracking indicators across complex health systems. The common thread is helping programs and systems ask better questions of their own data, and use what they find.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Operations and Implementation Research
Evidence-based solutions are often designed in highly controlled settings, not the real world. Riley is interested in research that is practical, contextually grounded, and oriented toward change that lasts—whether that means understanding why an intervention isn't taking root in a community clinic, or examining where inefficiencies are slowing a supply chain from the inside out.
People-Centered Systems Research
Riley has been supporting the SBC work on STOP Spillover, as well as helping with
some of the external communications work for the project, such as the project newsletter.
Given that I support multiple projects in addition to Stops,it has been a huge help to have Riley on board.
I appreciate her willingness to jump in and help, sometimes without even being asked.
With several countries to keep tabs on under Stops, she is great at staying on top of what they're up to and
flagging for me when they need support, or are going off the rails. She's very organized which I appreciate.
On several occasions she's shown her knowledge of measuring along the behavior pathway, and was able to help the Stops country teams, which I know they appreciated. Her strong writing and editing skills have also been appreciated. Riley has a great can-do attitude, and I think she will go far.
Liz Creel,
Senior Technical Advisor,
USAID STOP Spillover / JSI
Collaborator Feedback
Riley continues to be an absolute joy to work with on our larger SBC team and also on smaller activity teams. She is one of a few people that I can trust with most any tasks that need to be done. Any task that I have asked her to support, regardless of the complexity, has been done with excellent attention to detail and often better than I had imagined during my own creative and troubleshooting process. She is independent and reliable. Her work is polished and always well-received.
Shaneka Thurman,
Senior Technical Advisor,
USAID Advancing Nutrition / Manoff Group
Riley is truly unique in her capacity to do “all the things” really well - design, implement, administrate, facilitate, and manage - while being kind, patient, and fun person to work with. I would hire her in a heartbeat if I had active funding, but alas I do not.
Rebecca Heidkamp,
Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
About Riley
S. Riley Auer, MSPH is a mixed-methods research and program operations expert who is passionate about people-centered, systems change. Her expertise includes behavioral science, social and behavior change (SBC), and collaboration, learning, and adaptation for public health programs.
With over seven years of global health experience, Riley has supported and led teams at Vitamin Angels, JSI Research & Training, and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
She has contributed as a thought leader to technical guidance, technical working groups, and communities of practice focused on nutrition data; monitoring, evaluation, adaptation, and learning; and SBC. Between 2023-2025, she served as the co-chair of the Nutrition Data Partners Group, a global body of technical experts and funders of nutrition data value chains.