Who We Are
Leah Ersoylu, PhD
Founder
Leah founded Ersoylu Consulting in 2007 to be a thought partner to clients in all sectors- public and private- who want to engage in meaningful social change. She has evolved to become a leader in the field, having spent nearly 20 years working at the nexus of philanthropy and metrics. She has advised, trained and consulted hundreds of organizations on initiative design, effective advocacy strategies, and meaningful impact measurements.Â
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She has helped funders design trust-based giving strategies, helped coalitions build power to make meaningful policy change and trained countless organizations in evaluation, learning and sense-making.Â
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When not supporting her clients' goals, she is dedicated to volunteering in her community. She is currently President of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board, where she was elected in 2020 and 2024. She has also served on various other committees and commissions:
Costa Mesa Public Services & Housing Committee (2013-15), Costa Mesa Bikeabilty & Walkability Committee (2015-17)
Costa Mesa Parks, Arts & Recreation Commission (2017-2020)
Orange County Children & Families Commission (2021-23)
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Leah has authored several academic, peer-reviewed publications on philanthropy, community engagement, policy and metrics. She has taught courses on public policy, government, and nonprofit management at UCI, CSULB and Chapman University and has given numerous guest lectures. She holds a B.S. in Resource Economics from the University of New Hampshire and a Ph.D. in Political Science, with a focus on public policy, from University of California, Irvine.
Zahra Ahmed, PhD
Senior Manager
Zahra has been with the Ersoylu team since 2009. She has twenty years of experience in the fields of community development and social policy analysis. As a Project Manager, Zahra is the Lead Facilitator on the Ersoylu team. Through this work, she has provided research and evaluation services as well as facilitation and policy analysis to organizations across Southern California. Zahra is also currently in the process of becoming a certified Conflict Mediator. She received her Masters degree in Social Work from Georgia State University and her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine.
Emily Wei Klekman, MS, MPH
Project Manager
Emily lends strategic support in research and evaluation methods to multiple clients and projects. She brings a passion for advancing community health to translating research into actionable plans. Emily’s primary research interests are in nutrition and physical activity in communities and schools, the impact of social and environmental factors on health behaviors, health equity, U.S. food policy, and the revitalization of the U.S. healthcare system. Prior to joining Ersoylu Consulting, she served as Cost Data Coordinator for the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Prevention Research Center. In this capacity, she assessed health impacts and costs for CHOICES (Childhood Obesity Intervention Cost-Effectiveness Study), and helped develop cost-effectiveness model inputs. Emily received her BS in Biology from UCSB, her MS in Food Policy & Applied Nutrition and MPH from Tufts University.
Ciara C. Knight, PhD
Project Manager
Ciara has more than 17 years of experience in evaluation, applied research, and organizational learning. As a senior evaluation leader, she partners with public agencies, nonprofits, and federal programs to design mixed-methods evaluations, build organizational capacity, and translate findings into evidence-based recommendations. Ciara's work centers on culturally responsive and equity-driven approaches, with a portfolio spanning education, health, and STEM programs funded by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Ciara received her Ph.D. in Psychology with an emphasis in Evaluation and Applied Research from Claremont Graduate University and her Master of Science in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from California State University, San Bernardino.