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A message from our CEO:

Recently, I had a day steeped in learning about equitable evaluation. It started with a call focused on the Equitable Evaluation Initiative and the role data and evaluation consultants can play to turn evaluation into a process that actually promotes equity. This particular call focused on the foundation-consultant relationship and the power dynamics typically at play.

Interestingly, just before the call, I received an email from a foundation evaluation leader asking if we could provide pro bono services to an initiative they were supporting.

My thought process went like this:

  1. It would be good to engage in and support this effort as the larger initiative has benefitted the community
  2. From an “exposure” perspective, this would be good for relationship building
  3. Our team is busy – would anyone have time to do this? Would it add more stress to the team?
  4. Why are they asking for pro bono support given the resources this foundation has, both monetary and people?
  5. If we don’t do this work for free, will they consider us for paid work in the future?
  6. We could probably handle the work time-wise and financially . . . but there are many smaller shops and independent evaluators who could benefit from the income from this work. Is this contributing to an inclusive economy?
  7. If we don’t do it, someone else will . . .

I’ve reflected frequently over the past year on equity, inclusive economies, equitable evaluation and what this means for our organization from various lenses - staffing, business model, B Corp status, the contracts we accept, the clients to engage, and the approaches we use. Some of my concerns about the ask for pro bono work from a foundation ran counter to what I hope to see for our sector.

In the spirit of
challenging others within our sector to think about the power and space we hold, I reached out to this foundation staff member to share my reflections. She was gracious, listened, appeared uncomfortable at times, asked good questions, and ultimately thanked me for my feedback. I emphasized my primary concern, which was that a well-resourced foundation was asking for free work in a time of economic stress and how that work could help someone financially. Though this was an uncomfortable conversation, I believe there were moments of learning for both of us. My hope is that this conversation gets shared with the leadership in her organization and that we can collectively learn to understand our power/privilege and push ourselves to be more equitable.



With Gratitude,

Cindy
Founder & CEO



If this message and/or the resources below resonate with you, please share this month’s Lab Notes with a friend or colleague.
December Resources
 
 
Reading
  • Stanford Social Innovation Review Power in Philanthropy including:
  • Alternatives to white-dominant culture - a helpful tool for inspiring inclusive and equitable cultures in an organization. Here is a reflection from Danielle Cummings, an internal member of our team:
    • Fear of open conflict >> Throughout my career in social-good spaces, I've seen a fear of open and direct communication about challenging topics, both running bottom-up (e.g., challenging leadership on oppressive practices) and top-down or peer-to-peer (e.g., providing constructive feedback that empowers individuals to meet expectations rather than allowing potential problems to fester and performance to suffer). This fear tends to hurt people with marginalized identities more, as we tend to hold less power in institutions. See the story of a recent firing from Google of an accomplished ethical AI researcher, Timnit Gebru, for an example of retaliation against a Black woman challenging leadership. A culture of openness, with channels for feedback in all directions, are important elements of building an equitable culture.
    • Prioritizing urgency >> Making quick decisions (e.g., urgent hires to meet immediate project needs) and producing quick turnarounds (e.g., sending off a deliverable to appease a client) are two of the many ways that urgency can come at the expense of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ). Allowing adequate time to center DEIJ in our work is essential to advancing DEIJ, but this can sometimes compete with a desire to be efficient and responsive. What are some creative ways to build in the time to center DEIJ in the face of tight budgets, immediate business needs, and client requests?
Watching & Listening
  • NPR Interview with author of White Fragility, Robert DiAngelo (8 minutes)
Tools
Announcements
  • We're excited to announce we will be running our online course, Emerging with Clarity, in 2021 and registration is now open!
    • WHAT: 12-week online course for nonprofit program leads who want to make data-informed programmatic decisions and tell a data-driven story about the impact of your organization’s work
    • WHEN: start date is on February 09, 2021

 
 
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