“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, and as we turn the calendar pages to a new decade and enter a crucial election year for our nation, it is an opportune time to reflect on the state of “now” and reinvigorate for “tomorrow.”
In 2020, we celebrate 35 years of our organizational contributions to the social sector—five of those years as Equal Measure. The sector has evolved over these past three and a half decades, and while the pace of change may feel painstakingly slow at times, we remain optimistic about what lies ahead, invigorated by the changes we have experienced—and contributed to—over the years.
Today more than ever we see social change leaders engaging in efforts to co-design and evaluate systems change strategies that are grounded in equity. Philanthropy is beginning to champion new values-aligned ways of supporting the sector, seeking to understand how their investments and ways of working center and impact community. We see a shift towards solutions that are more deeply interdisciplinary and values-focused.
As the sector has evolved, so have we. Over the past year, we have become more of a “trend-sensing” organization, better able to share with our clients what is coming in the social sector and help them to address, prepare for, and leverage these changes.
The opportunity to contribute to these conversations has pushed Equal Measure to enhance and expand the skills of our staff. We’ve also welcomed a slate of fantastic new board members, who bring additional breadth of professional expertise and lived experience to Equal Measure to push our thinking. And we are helping create opportunities to convene and collaborate with our fellow philanthropic evaluators and funders with an evaluation mindset in order to keep moving our own field forward.
We’ve deepened our knowledge of data systems and technical assistance, become deeply versed in effective collective impact strategies, and learned a lot about building successful partnerships between funders, evaluators, and intermediaries. We will continue to expand our content expertise as we engage in cross-sector, place-based systems change work across the country, examining change strategies in education, economic mobility, community health, investment ecosystems, workforce development, and more.
Aligned with our commitment to greater knowledge democracy, we’ve launched a new website. Equalmeasure.org is more dynamic, more accessible, and designed to better help us share with the field what we’re learning from work with our clients and partners.
We plan for 2020 to be a year of growth, and will proudly lead with our values—driven by our strategic plan, as well as by the expanded needs of our clients and urgent opportunities for change. I am thrilled to anticipate the contributions of our staff, board members, and partners.
So here’s to 2020! I wish you all a year of fortitude and inspiration—with renewed courage, optimism, and determination for tomorrow and today.
— Meg Long, President, Equal Measure
