ResultsLab: Counting on Democracy

Dear Reader,

The recent violence at our nation’s Capitol was shocking, unsettling and unacceptable. Our democracy has been active this year - through protesting, policy debates, conversations and voting. But the attempts to stop a key step in our democratic process go beyond participation in democracy. The country voted, those votes were counted, and some still attempted to discount these votes and say what they wanted was more important than the whole.

And yet, our democracy prevailed as our nation’s leaders took one more step in the confirmation of a fairly elected president. A good step, but we have a deep amount of work to do to ensure our nation becomes more inclusive. With these events, and the historic inequities and voter suppression, I cannot help but worry about our democracy holding to the edges.

You all know I’m a believer in data, and both data and counting in democracy matters. Counting is in numbers, but also sentiments, perspectives, experiences, values, understanding, and knowing. Until we begin having more inclusive data practices, and hearing from (and listening to) a diverse array of voices, our democracy will continue to hold on to the edges.

With this in mind, ResultsLab will be offering a series of workshops focused on bringing the inclusive practices we need in our democracy to your work. We recognize the value of community voice and capturing community sentiments and experiences, especially when designing programs and measuring impact. We have worked to be equitable and inclusive in our approach and we want to share that learning with you. As you design your programs, think about how you are listening to your community. What practices do you have in place to collect the data and insights that best represent community voice? How are you using that information to be more equitable and effective?

We want to partner with you to drive greater impact. If you are interested in participating, fill out this form to tell us what information would be most useful so we can tailor the workshops to your needs.

Reading

Short and impactful read on ways we, as data project producers, can more accurately represent the minority voices that often get left out of data analysis reports.
Culturally Responsive and Equitable Evaluation - to provide a deeper understanding of lived experiences, we need to integrate diversity, inclusion and equity in all phases of evaluation.
Amplify Community Voice – How we can build trust through community voice and involve residents in decision-making that impacts their lives to restore American’s confidence in our democracy
Why the Census is broken, the importance of a complete and accurate count and the distorted distribution of representation and funding. Although the count for 2020 is complete, the work must continue. Shout out to Together We Count and other efforts to ensure inclusive counting with the Census.