Services
Mija Sanders Consulting provides qualitative research, evaluation, and community engagement for public agencies and nonprofits in the Portland area. I work directly with agencies and as a subconsultant on larger teams pursuing Metro, City of Portland, county, and state projects.
COBID certified
Registered supplier in OregonBuys
Fluent in Turkish, intermediate Arabic
1
Interviews and focus groups
I design and facilitate interviews and focus groups that reach people agencies often hear from least, and I analyze what they say in a form decision-makers can use. For a Fulbright-Hays study in Izmir, Turkey, I interviewed 100 Syrian refugees in their homes in Turkish and Arabic. At Mercy Corps, I led a Photovoice study with 150 Syrian adolescents.
2
Needs assessments and program evaluation
When a program isn't reaching the people it was built for, I find out why. My Izmir research traced how refugees looked for health care and aid, and found that untranslated government websites, too few interpreters, uneven practice by local offices, and rumor all stood between people and help that already existed for them.When a program isn't reaching the people it was built for, I find out why. My Izmir research traced how refugees looked for health care and aid, and found that untranslated government websites, too few interpreters, uneven practice by local offices, and rumor all stood between people and help that already existed for them.
3
Community engagement design
I plan engagement processes that are accessible, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed, from choosing methods and recruiting participants to deciding how findings get back to the community.
4
Plain-language materials testing
Before focusing on public-sector work, I worked as a UX researcher, running usability tests and user interviews for enterprise software teams at EPAM Systems and co-leading discovery research on a website redesign for the Foundation for Intentional Community. I bring those same methods to public materials. I test websites, forms, notices, and outreach materials with the people who will actually use them, watch where they get stuck, and turn what I see into specific revisions. On the Foundation for Intentional Community project, interviews showed that most visitors misunderstood the organization's core term, and that finding reshaped the homepage.
5
Cross-cultural and trauma-informed staff training
I design and deliver training that helps staff work across language and cultural difference. At Mercy Corps in Turkey, I adapted a gender equity and code of conduct training into Turkish for 300 staff and set up a language program for 200 employees. Through Mija Sanders Consulting, I delivered a training on Southwest Asian and North African communities for Catholic Community Services of Western Washington.