Over the past decade, Equal Measure served as learning partner to three major philanthropic initiatives—Mobility LABs (Robin Hood Foundation), LEAP (Annie E. Casey Foundation), and the Opportunity Youth Forum (Aspen Institute)—to understand how strengthening systems across communities can drive lasting change and economic opportunity. Our engagement taught us new lessons about the value of supporting complex systems change efforts that are deeply and authentically grounded in place.
“…it felt like a space where we could really lead…we weren’t told what we had to create. And we were able to give youth and community members real autonomy in a way that other grants didn’t allow us…that was what was really exciting about this funding.”
These three initiatives collectively engaged more than 50 communities across the country. The partnerships and collaboratives worked on the ground and across sectors, aligning local systems to better serve residents and improving economic mobility and education and career pathways opportunities for youth and adults so that families and communities can thrive.
Exciting insights about place-based systems change emerged, even though the initiatives were aimed at a wide range of populations and in diverse contexts across the country. In this brief we share three cross-cutting lessons about systems change and advice for designing effective evaluations of complex place-based systems change efforts.
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