Evan Michael Foster

Hometown: Oregon, Illinois

Undergraduate Institution and Major: University of Illinois at Springfield, B.S. In Biology

Graduate Institution and Major: University of Illinois at Springfield, Master of Public Health

Evan was born in Rockford and grew up in both Oregon, Illinois and Litchfield, Illinois, with family roots in Chicago and northern Illinois. His path through the state hasn’t been especially straight, but it shaped how he thinks about public institutions and the people who depend on them. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Biology with an emphasis in Pre-Medicine and Master of Public Health from UIS before returning to pursue his Doctor of Public Administration (DPA). Evan’s research focuses on how public policy, financial incentives, and emerging technologies shape organizational decision-making.

Evan’s career crosses emergency medicine, laboratory operations and public health across local, state, and national levels and spans from nonprofit leadership to finance and organizational governance. Most recently, he directed roughly $40 million in program spending across 20 private, state, and federal grant programs at the American Lung Association while leading a national team of 10 directors and specialists. Earlier roles took him from managing emergency department scribes in Springfield and Decatur to enforcing public health regulations, testifying as an expert witness, and supporting statewide suicide prevention.

Evan is the founder of Integrated Value Architecture and Rule 52, where he develops practical approaches to decision readiness and responsible AI use. He also serves as Treasurer for the 350 Illinois Board of Directors, leading the board’s financial governance through budgeting, forecasting, tax reporting, executive oversight and governance, and strategic planning and implementation of the organization’s expansion from Chicago into a statewide organization. His interest in public administration comes from seeing how decisions made inside institutions end up as consequences down the road. He is less interested in producing another report that ends up in the recycle bin and instead is working to understand why avoidable mistakes keep happening and providing others with practical solutions they can use every day.

Milestone Achievements:

Founder, Integrated Value Architecture LLC(2026)

Author, "Beyond Financial Dominance" (SSRN Abstract 6040034)

Senior Director of Healthy Air Solutions, American Lung Association

Treasurer, Board of Directors of a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization

Current Place of Work: Founder and Principal Architect, Integrated Value Architecture LLC (Springfield, Illinois)

Current Contact Information:

evan.foster@integratedvaluearchitecture.com

Research on Organizational Decisions and AI | Integrated Value Architecture