Engage R+D

Since launching in 2020, our #PriorityCommunities?initiative has made progress?towards its goal of creating good jobs and fostering inclusive economic development in Fresno, Salinas, San Bernardino, Stockton, and Riverside. This report from Engage R+D highlights key findings from the initiative’s first four years, showcasing progress, challenges, and what it takes to transform local economies: https://irvine.ly/4btww71 Engage R+D found that support from Irvine has significantly shifted the composition of regional economic development tables, with a substantial increase in participation from grassroots organizations that represent worker and community voice. The report also emphasizes the importance of understanding regional context, building trusting relationships, and providing long-term funding to strengthen organizational capacity, knowledge, and skills, and seeding new innovations that produce good, sustainable jobs.? ? A Stockton stakeholder shared: “The Irvine Foundation has allowed us to provide resources – not just capital but also strategic consultation. This has helped us better understand needs, priorities, opportunities, and challenges – and to provide more resources to folks at the table.”? ? ? Learn more and check out the full report at: https://irvine.ly/4btww71? ? #InclusiveEconomicDevelopment #Philanthropy?

Nonprofit Finance Fund’s State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey 2025 is open until March 7th. Add your voice to our understanding of the sector. This survey is one of the largest of its kind and collects data about US nonprofits’ health and challenges and formulates them into an accessible, evidence-based illustration of how the nonprofit sector is faring. It’s a powerful platform for nonprofits large and small, across sub-sectors and geographies. Data is used to advocate for the investments needed to secure nonprofits’ long-term resilience, ultimately supporting the communities we all care for and serve. We are proud to help raise our sector’s voices. Please take the #NFFSurvey and ensure your organization is heard. It will take only about 25-35 minutes and will be a valuable contribution to this important effort: https://lnkd.in/edGqcUfS #Nonprofits #CommunityImpact #Data #Survey

Equity work isn’t just about systems—it’s about people, relationships, and belonging. With support from the RWJF, we partnered with Expanding the Bench and Informing Change to hold space for deep reflection and collective learning at?#AEA2024?on what it truly takes to drive change. Check out the key takeaways here:?https://lnkd.in/gGDjS4hN

At the American Evaluation Association Conference, ETB hosted its annual Gathering in partnership with Engage R+D, Informing Change, and RWJF. The event highlighted how trust, humility, and collaboration shape equitable evaluation and learning. Read our latest blog for reflections and insights on strengthening the field together: https://lnkd.in/efdhjPxa

Our Senior Associate Omar Alcover Firpi, PhD, alongside Meghan Hunt of Engage R+D; Angel Villalobos, Nancy Vang, and Neda Moussapour of Expanding the Bench, and Maryam Khojasteh of RWJF, reflect on how and why relationships and collaboration are at the heart of equitable approaches to evaluation and learning: https://lnkd.in/gK8MwtPZ

Our team at Engage R+D has been exploring how funders and nonprofits can take a community-driven approach to strengthening sustainability—especially in uncertain times. In this Center for Effective Philanthropy blog post, Pilar Mendoza and Clare Nolan share insights from our work with the The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, discussing rethinking scale and centering community leadership in the process.

In January, GEO will launch our 2025 Field Survey of Grantmaker Practice. This survey will be administered to all staffed foundations in the US and will provide field-level data on how grantmakers are adopting the practices that center nonprofits and communities. Please complete our short form to provide your contact information as a pledge to complete the survey, and to ensure that you receive the survey when launched in early-January. We are looking for one response per foundation. The survey should be completed by one individual who can best speak to the foundation's overall practices. Complete the survey here: https://lnkd.in/dAjtJF9p

There is still time to register for our webinar, in conjunction with GEO. We will dive into knowledge and tools from our field resource, Fostering Participatory Learning Approaches in Philanthropy: A Guide for the Curious. Participants will: ? - Learn about a new tool to support foundation staff in fostering participatory learning; - Understand how participatory learning supports power sharing and joint decision making; - Reflect on how to start or continue work in participatory learning; and - Share and network with other foundation staff with similar goals ? Register here (you do not need to be a GEO member): https://lnkd.in/eKVbpegT We look forward to seeing you there! ? #Philanthropy #Evaluation #Equity

We invite you to join us on December 11 for a webinar, in conjunction with GEO, where we will share knowledge and tools from our field resource, Fostering Participatory Learning Approaches in Philanthropy: A Guide for the Curious. The Guide is the first comprehensive resource for funders that focuses on practical tools, tips, and examples for integrating such approaches into a foundation’s practice. Participants will: - Learn about a new tool to support foundation staff in fostering participatory learning; - Understand how participatory learning supports power sharing and joint decision making; - Reflect on how to start or continue work in participatory learning; and - Share and network with other foundation staff with similar goals ? Register here (you do not need to be a GEO member):?https://lnkd.in/eKVbpegT We look forward to seeing you there! ? #Philanthropy #Evaluation #Equity

We’re proud to have partnered with Community Wealth Partners to document the journey of the Healthy Food Community of Practice. This case study and blog share how more than 50 organizations worked together to strengthen healthy food access during uncertain and challenging times, offering valuable lessons for collaborative systems change. Check out the blog: https://lnkd.in/eXix6hYH Read the case study to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eJnnArpx