Tomika Rodriguez - July 23, 2024
July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, an annual observance that “raises awareness about the unique challenges that affect the mental health of racial and ethnic minority and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations.” It is alternately denoted as Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) Mental Health Month. This post explores a landscape study conducted by Learning for Action (LFA) that may have important implications for philanthropy in addressing BIPOC college student mental health.
Steven LaFrance - June 25, 2024
This post explores the approach to PropelNext, a robust cohort-based capacity-building model designed to strengthen organizations and their internal capacity for learning. Steven LaFrance describes how LFA, along with our coaching team and partners, evolved this approach over a decade to reflect principles of equity in practice.
Emily Boer Drake and Jessica Xiomara García - May 20, 2024
In 2023, Learning for Action (LFA) became a fully women-owned organization when Jessica Xiomara García and Emily Boer Drake stepped into ownership.
Today, we are excited to share that in addition to being co-owners we have officially transitioned into our new roles as LFA’s Co-CEOs.
Steven LaFrance - July 26, 2022
How should nonprofits begin thinking about bringing on dedicated evaluation and learning (E&L) staff? Nonprofit leaders understand that collecting and analyzing data in the service of learning is mission-critical. At the same time, many make do with program staff taking on the technical tasks of data analysis and reporting. This brief provides useful learning and practical guidance from10 years and 30+ nonprofits in the PropelNext initiative regarding how, when, in what role(s), and at what levels of compensation this group of nonprofits staffed up their E&L functions.
Nancy Latham - March 7, 2022
In 2014, California voters passed Proposition 47, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act: a law designed to help reverse mass incarceration. While the win was thrilling, success was not guaranteed – it all depended on the law’s implementation, which was in the hands of the Board of State and Community Corrections. To ensure that the law lived up to its promise, criminal justice advocates across California mobilized to engage in implementation advocacy. Going up against an institution that has traditionally sided with law enforcement, they won. The California Endowment, recognizing the magnitude of the win, commissioned a case study to tell its story. The story is rich with insights for those studying advocacy – including the role of implementation advocacy in policy success, what power-building can look like in the context of implementation advocacy, and how advocates can use narrative strategy to challenge the status quo.
