Ms Veronica Torres
A technical & evaluation specialist
Veronica Torres Consulting focuses on programming design, monitoring and evaluation for young people. Areas of focus include financial literacy, livelihoods, reproductive health, and life and employability skills. The consulting business draws on specialists informative research, curriculum design, financial inclusion, media, non-formal education, literacy and numeracy, health, and livelihoods. The consulting business also caters to clients interested in strategic planning and “critical point” assessments. Ms. Torres has worked with both international non-government organizations and private companies as a senior technical specialist and manager.
Veronica Torres
Clients Include
Approach
I use a wide range of tools and approaches to centre the design on program participants. I ensure that teams address assumptions about what they think will work and test these in a rigorous way. I have built a reputation for delivering strong interactive content and for developing the capacity of field practitioners. Many organisations turn to me for the high-quality work done to strengthen the quality of programs in the field.
I work across reproductive health, nutrition, livelihoods, agriculture, education and financial inclusion to promote applied life skills with adolescents, especially girls. Program learning documents and evaluations have captured the outcomes and impact of work I have influenced across the globe.
I produce literacy relevant and cognitively appropriate materials for girls across cultures I work in various partnerships and collaborations that lead to improving the work we do for adolescents and youth. These partnerships are with individuals and organisations in many countries and specialising in a range of areas including literacy, financial inclusion, and media.
Services
Girl Programming & Youth Livelihood Specialist
Financial Literacy & Financial Services
Livelihoods Program Design
Formative Research
Curriculum Design & Curricular Labs
Monitoring & Evaluation
Strategy & Scale Up
Financial Literacy and Financial Services
Provide technical guidance for non-government organizations, financial service providers and donors on strategies for inclusion of adolescent clients. Assess services for access, cost and relevance. Develop context relevant financial literacy content.
Financial Literacy Gamebook Content Development, UNFPA Haiti
Led design of financial literacy learning tools incorporated into gamebook design for 10-14 year old girls in Haiti. Led formative research with adolescent girls in Carrefour, Port au Prince.
Salone Financial Literacy Content Development, Population Council
Review and development of financial literacy curricula developed for two age groups of adolescent girls as part of a larger life skills curricula in Sierra Leone.
Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program Final Assessment in Zambia, Population Council
Led on qualitative assessment of results of savings program for girls. Trained local focus group facilitators and interviewers working with girl groups, parents and mentors. Presenter of findings at Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit in October, 2015.
Discussion Paper on Parents and Youth Savings, Freedom from Hunger
Literature review on influence of parents on youth financial behavior. Lead writing of conceptual and practical considerations for inclusion of parents in youth savings programs.
Financial Literacy and Life Skills Content Development for Adolescent Girls in Haiti, Population Council
Developed financial literacy and life skills materials for adolescent girls; Developed training material for local NGO staff and mentors
Livelihood Program Design
Collaborate with in-country teams to undertake livelihood assessments upfront with young people and their communities on what exists and what can be enhanced so young people expand earning opportunities. Particular attention is placed on barriers to participation by girls and young women. Capacity building services offered to teams in this area. Sharing from broad spectrum of examples in various geographies.
Youth in Action Program, Save the Children
Provide strategic level input to program director of five country and complex, multi-partner program. Provide regular support to youth livelihoods advisor based in Malawi. Developer of program content for younger age segment on adolescent livelihoods content with an emphasis on girls.
Youth Invest, MEDA
Assessment consultant for a youth entrepreneurship and financial literacy program with MEDA’s Youth Invest Program. Identified options best suited for Morocco-based youth livelihoods and workforce program.
ACCION, Callejera, Dominican Republic
Youth Livelihoods Program Developer and Interim Director: Developed a program for working youth to successfully access employment opportunities and develop their own businesses, including developing savings habits and identifying financing options. Worked with young women in the sex trade to identify alternative options for income generation, including identification of skills development opportunities in the community.
Formative Research
Work with organizations to surface learning questions, assumptions and key evidence on adolescent programming. Design adolescent centered research tools, both quantitative and qualitative for purposes of engaging young people and community members fully as collaborators in the research. Work with teams to jointly analyze data and identify doable recommendations for programming activities.
Adolescent Situational Study in Laos, Save the Children
Led on qualitative study of situation of boarding students from minority communities and out of school adolescent girls. Developer of presentation of study results to inform program activities. Lead on quantitative household survey study using a tool called the Girl Roster to geographically situate and identify characteristics of girls in minority communities.
Formative Research for Ethiopia Safe Spaces Content Development, Girl Effect
Led Girl-Centered Research including consultations with girls, parents, boys, and government representatives to analyze for use in safe spaces content development. Relevant content to be developed in two regions of Oromia and Amhara for girls 11-12 and 13-14. Content is focused on life skills for learning and livelihoods.
Curriculum Design and Curricular Labs
Drawing on lessons learned of in-country teams and formative research, design effective, accessible and relevant content for young people. Responsive to cultural, age, and contextual considerations raised by young people and their communities as well as local staff. Incorporate applied learning approach to curricula design in consideration of young people’s and their family’s assessment of opportunity costs to program participation. Provide capacity building in the form of curricular labs for organizations interested in building in-house ability in developing own content on a regular basis.
Adolescent Girl Program Content Development in India, UNFPA
Designed curriculum lab for UNFPA and partners in India working on curriculum for 10-19 year old girls on social and economic empowerment. External review of content for five modules on health, social and economic asset building. Lead reviewer on economic asset building module.
Girl Content Co-Creation Workshop, Girl Hub Ethiopia
Led content development workshop for partners working on girl programming in Ethiopia. Facilitator of inputs on key elements for curriculum content for girls and target age group.
12+ Program in Rwanda, Girl Effect Rwanda
Reviewed health, education, community engagement content developed for government led program in Rwanda for adolescent girls; Lead developer of economic development content for adolescent girls’ program: Technical advisor on extension of the curricular activities and training of facilitators.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Work with organizations and program investors on assessing program delivery, documenting lessons learned, identifying promising practices, formulating strategies to findings, and evaluating end of program results. Specifically focus on adolescent and youth livelihood programming.
Mid-term Evaluation IYF Youth Employment Program, Universalia
Developed overall evaluation framework, focus group and interview tools for range of stakeholders including employers, youth and implementing partners. Presenter of findings with MasterCard Foundation and IYF. Produced mid-term report for MasterCard Foundation and IYF.
Mid-Term Evaluation of YouthSave Project, Universalia
Led design of youth focus group and interview tools for evaluation in four countries; Led field evaluation of Nepal programming by Save the Children and partners; Led analysis of youth reach by YouthSave program particularly in terms of schooling and mobility; Collaborated on analysis of responsiveness of program to learning questions and ability to add value to the youth financial services field in terms of relevance and effectiveness; Led in-country debrief in Nepal on field level program recommendations to improve effectiveness and collaboration among partners.
Portfolio Review of Curricula, NIKE Foundation
Reviewed over 30 curricula developed by a range of organizations funded by the NIKE Foundation; Developed an overarching framework for ongoing content development by Girl Hub programs in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Rwanda; Rated curricula based on approach to girls and women inclusion, relevance to lives of young women’s health, social capital building and economic reality
Strategy and Scale Up
Provide strategic guidance to program and country leadership of organizations on addressing significant challenges, identifying approaches to program re-design, increasing impact to most vulnerable groups of adolescents and how best to build internal capacity. Work with organizations and program investors on strategies to scale up including government stakeholders.
Life Skills Education Consultancy, UNICEF
Led development of conceptual and guidance documents for country teams on life skills programming. Lead on developing measurement options for life skills programming.
12+ Program Scale Up Consultations in Rwanda, DFID
Led consultations with government ministries, NGO’s and donors to develop scenarios for scale up of 12+ program across 30 districts in the country.
Veronica has worked with
Clients
in
Countries
I had the pleasure of working with Veronica in Haiti as part of a post-earthquake recovery initiative to improve financial literacy and empowerment among adolescent girls. Veronica brought her strong work ethic and variety of experiences to the project and then went further to adapt it to exactly what was required to meet our objective. She also puts into practice the standards of participatory approach and excellent group facilitation exemplifying how cross-cultural and cross-generational work can and should be conducted.
Brian HoyerVeronica Torres is an excellent technical leader in her area. She is experienced in helping teams think about their experience and knowledge strengths and gaps, assess their program context and make informed decisions with the young people they serve. Veronica has in-depth knowledge of and is a technical leader in her field – adolescent girl programming and youth livelihood development – in a variety of contexts, can navigate these different contexts with ease and draws on this rich experience when working with program teams. She is flexible and not afraid of a challenge and does not shy away from difficult assignments. She is a critical thinker, problem solver and quickly grasps strengths, weaknesses, gaps and issues in any given situation and gives clear and concise recommendations. She is also an excellent strategic thinker and can facilitate different personalities and diverse teams around a common issue. Finally, she works hard, delivers and goes above and beyond to get the job done and has an excellent sense of humor.
Sita ConklinGet In Touch
More Info
Veronica is always looking to collaborate on new exciting projects, so get in touch and make something great happen for young people!
Address: 1105 King Street East, Oshawa,Canada, L1H 1H7
Phone: 905-626-9937
Email: [email protected]