Learning is one of our core values, guiding our organizational culture and how we approach our work—from grantmaking and relationship-building to research and evaluation. We ground our learning in community wisdom, and are dedicated to sharing what we learn from our successes and setbacks. We recognize that what we learn through information and evaluation can support our collective journey toward long-term systems change and community well-being.

• People’s stories and lived experiences are a form of knowledge that we deeply respect. 
• Communities know what kinds of data are needed to improve racial justice. 
• We need public data sets that more accurately reflect our communities. 
• We must be sensitive to how biases affect the ways people process information. 
• There’s power in bringing people together to share data and information. 
• It’s important to share what we learn from data. 

• We are committed to funding research that matters to communities. 
• Communities have a right to own and lead research about their communities. 
• When supporting original research, we commit to respectful and responsible research standards grounded and guided by communities. 
• We will take the lead from our grantees about who they trust to partner with on research projects. 
• We will prioritize projects that build capacity for communities and community-based organizations to lead their own research. 
• Research can be a powerful community organizing tool. 
• We can’t just fund research. 
• We must continuously learn. 

• Evaluation should be fair and equitable. 
• Communities have been conducting evaluations for generations, both informally and formally.  
• We should only measure what matters most to communities and organizations. 
• Evaluation requires time and energy. 
• We commit to always be reflective and evaluate how we’re living up to our stated values. 
• Evaluation should build organizational and community capacity beyond the scope of evaluation. 
• We must plan for evaluations early on. 
• Community gains are the result of interdependent and interconnected work.  
• Evaluations should be simplified. 
• Evaluation should be resourced. 

Download Our Approach to Information, Learning, and Evaluation to read more about our beliefs and practices.