Evan Micheal Foster

I am Evan Micheal Foster. I live in Springfield, Illinois with my family.

I am the founder of IVA, a Doctor of Public Administration student at the University of Illinois Springfield, Board Treasurer of 350 Chicago, a writer, a researcher, a husband and a father.

Most of my work focuses on the same recurring pattern. Institutions give people responsibility without enough authority, evidence or capacity to actually change the thing they are responsible for. Then the consequences show up as overload, rework, delayed decisions, financial pressure, staff frustration and quiet resignation.

Founder of IVA

IVA is the applied work I built from that pattern.

IVA focuses on operational value, decision systems, reporting structures, workflows, evidence, capacity and the places where organizations lose value before finance sees it.

The work is designed for organizations that need more than another dashboard, workshop or alignment exercise. People and functions protect incentives. IVA starts there instead of pretending everyone naturally moves toward the same goal because the slide deck said so.

Academic Work

I am a Doctor of Public Administration student at the University of Illinois Springfield.

My dissertation work focuses on how federal tax policy reinforces financialization across sectors. That research examines how financial logic becomes embedded in institutions and starts shaping what organizations treat as legitimate value.

I also hold a Master of Public Health and a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a pre-medicine emphasis from UIS.

Board Service

As Board Treasurer of 350 Chicago, I work on financial oversight, governance, reporting and capacity.

That role keeps the questions practical. What can the organization actually support? What commitments are already on the table? What does cash timing allow? What work will a board decision create for staff? What does the budget fail to show?

Personal Context

I am married to Michelle, and I am a father. Oregon, Illinois still carries a deep personal pull for me. It is where Michelle and I got married, and it remains part of how I think about home, memory and peace.

There is also a harder layer underneath my urgency. A neurodegenerative disease has moved through my family. I do not need that to become a headline, but it shaped how I think about time, children, risk and the responsibility to build something that matters while I can.

Start Here

For the broader personal story, visit About.

For academic background, visit Academics.

For research, visit Research.

For public writing, visit Writing.

For current work, visit Projects.

For direct outreach, visit Contact.