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Health Access, Public Health/Wellness, and Philanthropy

Health Equity

Our team works with clients at the intersection of health equity and systems change. Our portfolio includes evaluations of philanthropic efforts to promote equitable health access and support community advocacy to advance health and well-being within communities and among underserved groups—especially those disadvantaged because of their race, gender, age, ability, immigration status or poverty.

Philanthropy/Social Networks

Field Building

We are leaders in helping philanthropy build networks and institutions in emerging fields. Using methods like bellwether interviews, landscape scans, and social network analysis, we evaluate emerging and established fields working for change in the areas of violence prevention, reproductive rights, health access, racial equity, and access to education, learning, and quality jobs—and provide formative feedback so they can scale.

 

Philanthropy/Social Change

Power and Movement Building

Deep change goes beyond transforming institutions and extends to shifting hearts and minds. That’s why we work with clients to support power and movement building. We lift up lessons, outcomes, learnings, and successes resulting from client work so that knowledge gained can be shared through accessible training and capacity building. We create contexts that empower people with lived experience—those most affected by systemic inequities—to use project-generated knowledge and evidence in their own efforts to build power and partnerships, grow grassroots support, and advance social change.

Philanthropy for Equity and Inclusion

Advancing Equity in Philanthropy

We partner with foundations to evaluate their own equity initiatives and the equity-focused strategies, organizations, and programs they support. We develop creative frameworks, measures, and tools to capture learnings that lead to meaningful change and help stakeholders improve measurement and outcomes through transparent communications, collaborative learning, and community engagement.

Equity-Centered Practice

Racial Equity and Racial Justice

Racial equity and racial justice are woven into every aspect of our work. We recognize the complexity of evaluating change strategies led by diverse communities embedded in systems that have historically oppressed them, especially for low-income people, Black, Indigenous, and people of color, and people with disabilities who have been excluded from economic opportunity and advancement. We embrace the sensitivity required of us as evaluators, coaches, and technical assistance providers. We contract, hire, and partner with people who bring a strong racial justice lens, build evaluation teams that include people with diverse lived experiences and perspectives, and embrace inclusive practices in project design, delivery, management, and leadership.

Summary Report

Centering Race in Health Equity Advocacy

This paper summarizes the efforts of Colorado Trust’s Health Equity Advocacy initiative to put race at the center of its field-building work. It describes the project’s rationale for centering race in health equity, its vision for success, the grantee cohort’s...

Summary of Learnings

Reflections on Transformative Movement Building

This report describes the learnings and accomplishments of the first eight years of the NoVo Foundation’s decade-long Move to End Violence (MEV) initiative–an effort to strengthen the collective capacity of networks of community leaders to end gender-based violence.

Evaluation Report

The Legacy of the Strong Field Project

This report assesses the impact and contributions of the Strong Field Project (SFP)–a five-year effort to end domestic violence supported by the Blue Shield of California Foundation–and evaluates the implications for the field as leaders move beyond the SFP.

Case Study

By and For Residents: How Residents Built Power in North Richmond

This study tells the story of how resident leaders in North Richmond (California) created a Quality of Life Plan to give voice to community aspirations and priorities and identify the steps necessary to achieve their vision

Toolkit

Foundation Diversity: Policy & Practices Toolkit

Developed for The California Endowment (TCE), the toolkit is the product of an assessment of TCE policies and practices. It offers tools and resources in five categories for TCE and other funders to use to advance diversity, equity, and social...

Resource Guide

Commissioning Multicultural Evaluation: A Foundation Resource Guide

A product of The California Endowment’s effort to embrace diversity and community voice in its evaluation process, this guide offers resources to help foundations integrate a multicultural focus within their initiatives and program evaluations.

Clients and Partners

Housing & Community Development