Research, evaluation, and philanthropy have a long history of weaponizing data to marginalize and exclude the minority, indigenous, and queer people and communities. Many evaluators, organizations, and programs embed systemic and implicit biases into what they consider “valid” data. As a result, evaluation is often sidelined. Learning becomes something that is done separately from the work that matters and experienced as a burden and a drain on resources.
Nora, Andy and the Inspire to Change team help people remove bias from their work and expand their ideas of validity, fidelity, accountability, and findings by including the arts, indigenous, and culturally specific ways of knowing and being into systemic change work. Andy and Nora also explore creative placekeeping (communities imagine themselves) as a counterbalance to creative placemaking (arts-led gentrification), and the roles of love and spirituality in social change.
Through Inspire to Change, we will work towards changing this dynamic, developing principles-driven approaches to learning, evaluation, and adaptation that are useful and meaningful in justice and equity work.
When the path forward is uncertain, our values and beliefs help us decide how to move forward with integrity and strength. For Inspire to Change we let our principles--values translated into actionable statements--guide us at the level of individuals and systems. We engage these principles with our hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits. Learn more about our guiding principles of Be & Become, Remember & Create, Learn & Unlearn, Disrupt & Liberate on our website.
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Are you interested in learning more about who we are and what we do? Do we need help deciding where to start? Schedule a free 30-minute no-obligation consultation.
