Freedman Consulting, LLC

As we reflect on our work across a range of public policy issues this year, Freedman Consulting is thankful for the innovative and timely solutions that we have been a part of. Below are just a few topics where?we have had the opportunity to help?philanthropy be at the forefront of positive change. ???? In emerging tech, this year Alexander Hart led the team’s work on a landscape analysis regarding AI for social impact. Synthesizing current and future trends shaping the emerging AI-for-social-impact field, Freedman Consulting looked at key organizations, major issue areas, and the potential opportunities for philanthropy: https://lnkd.in/gTRBATFH ?? In criminal justice, Monique Garcia Rizer and Marcus Ransom lead the team supporting the Criminal Justice Funders Forum, a network of 28 foundations investing in major criminal justice reform efforts. In May, we supported the Forum’s annual convening in Denver where funders learned from innovative local practitioners, including organizations working on an alternative crisis response model, community reinvestment strategies, and more. ?? In journalism, Bill Nichols leads Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity as we partner with local newsrooms to highlight poverty and opportunity issues. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, the Spotlight team supported The Assembly in North Carolina as they document how many of the communities within the state face months – or even years – of painful recovery: https://lnkd.in/gE87AnHH ?? In science and health, Conor McKay led the team supporting STEMM Opportunity Alliance that hosted a major White House summit and launched STEMM Equity and Excellence 2050. This first-ever national strategy focuses on building a U.S. STEMM workforce that expands opportunities and reflects the diversity of our nation, and it is powered by over $2 billion in commitments from the Alliance’s more than 200 cross-sector partners: https://lnkd.in/eesHE3dT ?? In education, Monique Garcia Rizer, J.J. Tolentino, and Chloe Phely-Bobin supported Pull Up Fund to develop a back-to-school campaign with DonorsChoose, helping ensure that teachers in Maryland's Prince George's County Public Schools could set students up for long term success. This exciting campaign funded over 2,000 projects serving 180 schools and over 1,100 teachers: https://lnkd.in/gTvrpyfd?

Last month, Elena Chavez Quezada, Emmy-award winning filmmaker and producer Jake Kornbluth, and Tribal Affairs Secretary Christina Snider-Ashtari joined Mina Kim at the Journalism Funders Gathering 2024 (JFunders24), hosted by KQED and Media Impact Funders, for an impactful discussion around the public-private partnership that is capturing the Truth and Healing process in California through a documentary film sitting at the intersection of media and reparative justice. Secretary Snider-Ashtari shared: “We are trying to set up a structure where people want to be willing partners in building a shared understanding of what it means to be Californian, starting with the First People, versus the first Americans.” In building partnerships with individuals, corporations, and philanthropy, Snider-Ashtari reflected, “We can’t undo that 175 years of trauma, genocide, and displacement with one report. We are going to need to have an ongoing, iterative process where everybody starts to think about how they can do more for California Indian Country.” Please see below for more information about this inspiring conversation. You can also watch the full conversation on the Media Impact Funders YouTube page here:?https://lnkd.in/eUqbMmpA. For the past two years, our California Public-Private Partnerships team – Martha Mendoza, Carly Cramer, Eliza Steffen, and Bridget Brown – has had the honor of supporting cross-sector partnership and philanthropic engagement in the work of the California Native Truth and Healing Council, an unprecedented effort that will culminate in concrete policy recommendations. Learn about the council here?https://lnkd.in/gw3Xjx5 Watch the powerful sizzle reel from the Truth and Healing documentary here:?https://lnkd.in/gfeT5NB9

In a new op-ed, friend of the firm and former Senior Policy Advisor at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Karen Skelton highlights the work still needed to realize a clean energy future. She writes: “History suggests it takes a decade or more for industrial transformations to deeply root (…) The climate law does this with a government-enabled and private sector-led approach.” We are proud of the firm’s work with philanthropies to help implement landmark legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and CHIPS and Science Act. These value-aligned partnerships are key to creating opportunity and realizing a new energy transformation. Read Karen Skelton’s op-ed here: https://lnkd.in/dvEYRRur

As we think about our efforts so far in 2024, we remain energized about the firm’s work with philanthropies to help coordinate partnerships with federal and state leaders, building effective relationships across sectors. We see cross-sector partnerships as an important tool for impact, especially in today’s evolving policy environment. ?? In Maryland, we have worked with philanthropies and helped to develop cross-sector partnerships with Office of Governor Wes Moore, helping to secure over a dozen partnerships and more than $47 million in philanthropic commitments. With leadership by team members Amanda Newman and Monique Garcia Rizer, this effort includes supporting philanthropic efforts related to the implementation of Gov. Moore’s ENOUGH Act (a first-of-its-kind strategy to end concentrated child poverty), coordination for the Maryland Tough Baltimore Strong Alliance to rapidly raise $16 million after the collapse of the Key Bridge, and more. ?? In California, our team is supporting philanthropies as they pilot place-based partnership models in regions navigating economic transitions fueled by climate change. Earlier this month, team leaders Martha Mendoza, Bridget Brown, Isabella Gelfand and the team organized and facilitated a convening of nearly 80 state, philanthropy, and local leaders to launch the Imperial Valley Civic Ecosystem Initiative—a set of three interrelated partnerships designed to strengthen the capacity of Imperial Valley CBOs and local governments. Read more here https://lnkd.in/e5RvJNJf and here: https://lnkd.in/ea3R-458 ?? Nationally, the What Works Plus funder collaborative, led by Sasha Beder-Schenker and Talya Karr, has provided knowledge-building and gap-filling support for federal funding implementation. This summer, we partnered with Invest in Our Future on Philanthropy’s 500/1500 Challenge to showcase national and community foundations’ investments to further federal climate and clean energy funding. Find more on the What Works Plus website here: https://lnkd.in/eVsrTS-7 ?? As we look towards the future, we’re excited to scale lessons from this work as we begin to build a new effort, State Partnerships Lab led by Kathleen Kelly Janus, Martha Mendoza, and Talya Karr — that can provide a knowledge center, training, and peer learning for state-based partnerships across the country. Stay tuned for more in early 2025.

In a new Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity piece, Freedman Consulting Senior Advisor Bill Nichols speaks to Center for Law and Social Policy’s Emily Andrews and Research 2 Impact’s Jessica Milli about their new research on paid leave. As advocates are hopeful that paid federal family medical leave law is a bipartisan issue and conversations on federal policies will continue in the coming years, this new research underscores the importance of it for the 37 states without such laws. In the conversation, they highlight: ?? The Worker Plus Model, a data simulator that helps to address information gaps on worker behaviors ???? The economic impact of leave on women, parents, families, especially the differential effects across race ??? The varying effectiveness of paid family leave in the 13 states and DC where such laws currently exist To read their conversation, find the Spotlight piece here: https://lnkd.in/eFAe_rhM? To dig into the research, find CLASP’s new policy report here: https://lnkd.in/edv7_t3f?

In partnership with the Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom and several core collaborators, Freedman Consulting’s California Public-Private Partnerships team helped facilitate a convening of nearly 80 state, philanthropy, and local leaders to launch the Imperial Valley Civic Ecosystem Initiative (IVCEI) earlier this month. This initiative is composed of three interrelated public-private partnerships designed to provide technical assistance to and strengthen the capacity of Imperial Valley community-based organizations (CBOs) and local governments. The convening in Imperial Valley included resident-led site tours of the region and panel discussions with local government and CBO leaders, providing a powerful and candid exchange that grounded state and philanthropic leaders in the community’s challenges, hopes, and aspirations. These exchanges emphasized the need for a strategic and coordinated approach to bolster the capacity of Imperial Valley communities to self-determine and chart a path towards economic prosperity through coordinated partnerships as outlined in the initiative. IVCEI represents an innovative place-based public-private partnership model that our team is proud to pilot as regions navigate economic transitions fueled by climate change and investments in climate resilient infrastructure. This model has a three-step approach: (1) Identify regions that have an outsized role in meeting California’s climate goals;? (2) Work with local government and CBO leaders to understand their needs in maximizing opportunities; and? (3) Develop or adapt programs that are responsive to community needs which philanthropy and state entities can co-invest in for greater impact. We look forward to refining this approach for other regions across California! Read more about the Imperial Valley Civic Ecosystem Initiative here: https://lnkd.in/ea8_xvCV This convening was made possible thanks to deep coordination and partnership with the Governor’s Office, California Energy Commission, California Strategic Growth Council, Institute for Local Government the Latino Community Foundation, as well as community organizations on the ground Comite Civico Del Valle, Inc. and Imperial Valley Equity & Justice Coalition. A very special thank you to Elena Chavez Quezada, Maurice Lyles, Noemí Gallardo, Vishesh Anand, Carina Tamayo Cabrera, Hoi-Fei Mok, Ena Lupine, Blanca Escobedo, Erica L. Manuel, Karalee Browne, Melissa Kuehne, Max Vargas, Jose Luis Olmedo Velez, and Daniela Flores, MPH!

In a recent The Chronicle of Philanthropy article, Freedman Consulting Vice President Conor McKay said: “When you have more information, it makes [the future] more bite-sized and manageable.” As we look towards the election next month, scenario planning is a key tool that we and many others have used. This type of planning helps our clients consider the ways that the changes to the political environment impacts the outcomes we want to see in the world. For further reading, find our Scenario Planning resource – initially shared January 2024 – available here:?https://lnkd.in/eEynxmk2

We are excited that the Firm continues to grow and to announce that Kyra Jennings will serve as President of Freedman Consulting! Thomas Freedman will continue to serve the Firm as CEO and Co-Founder and Karin Freedman as CFO and Co-Founder. Nearly 14 years ago, Kyra joined the Firm as a Project Director and Chief of Staff. Since then, she has served as Vice President and, most recently, as Executive Vice President where she has overseen client projects and firm operations and helped drive the strategic direction of the Firm. Prior to her time at Freedman Consulting, she worked in political communications for federal and state leaders and campaigns. Join us in congratulating Kyra Jennings on this exciting leadership announcement!

This past week, Freedman Consulting’s What Works Plus (WW+) team gathered together in New York City for a retreat. WW+ provides philanthropy with knowledge-building and coordination opportunities to support equitable and effective implementation of historic federal infrastructure, climate, and economic development funding. The team spent time reflecting and planning for months of impact to come. Afterwards, the team came together for a fun ferry tour learning about climate resilience efforts in New York City!

Join the Freedman Consulting team! We are hiring for two positions to be based in Washington, DC. More on the roles and how to apply below! ??We are seeking a Project Director to lead a portfolio of projects featuring a wide variety of technology policy and related issues. Ideal candidates will have 7-10 years of previous policy, legislative, consulting, communications, and/or research experience. Learn more about the role here:?https://lnkd.in/evTqGPvX ??We are hiring an HR and Operations Manager! Reporting to the VP for HR, DEIB & Operations, this is a highly visible, hands-on role that supports employee onboarding, manages benefits, and advances the firm's operational efficiency. We are looking for DC-based candidates with 5-7 years of experience in HR, operations, or office management. Learn more about the role here:?https://lnkd.in/ez_H2vST