Like several of his close colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Fels Institute of Government in the early 1980s, Tom Burns saw in the West Philadelphia neighborhoods near Penn’s campus a vision for community development that embraced cross-sector solutions rooted in racial equity and ethnic diversity.
Like several of his close colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Fels Institute of Government in the early 1980s, Tom Burns saw in the West Philadelphia neighborhoods near Penn’s campus a vision for community development that embraced cross-sector solutions rooted in racial equity and ethnic diversity. Tom and his peers believed in the power of systems thinking, organizational learning, and interdisciplinary expertise as tangible approaches to elevating community assets and addressing structural challenges. These ideas formed the cornerstone upon which Tom and his colleague, Gerri Spilka, founded the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning—now Equal Measure.
Tom Burns, who remained a dear friend of the organization, passed away in 2018. But the framework for equitable economic and community prosperity, which he, Gerri, and others so passionately championed for more than 30 years ago, remains central to Equal Measure’s mission today—working with our clients to shift systems, policies, and practices to make communities stronger, healthier, more equitable, and more inclusive.
Since our founding, we have maintained a stalwart commitment to working with residents, educators, health officials, social service agency and nonprofit leaders, and funders as learning partners to help them “do good;” but as the issues facing communities become increasingly complex and more urgent, we must “do even better.”
As we enter 2019, our team at Equal Measure is taking the imperative to “do even better” seriously and boldly. At our core, we know that we have a vested stake in advancing the outcomes—the “good”—our clients and partners care about, and we share the sense of urgency for change. To be responsive and resilient partners, we must continue to invest in and evolve our organization—our project engagements, thought leadership, and organizational priorities. And, we must do so staying true to the core values that have shaped our organizational point of view for decades: applying an interdisciplinary approach; fostering a deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; promoting learning, collaboration, and shared responsibility; and serving as critical thought partners and allies in the social change effort.
So what will this look like?
Justin Piff, Vice President, Learning and Impact
Seth Klukoff, Vice President, Thought Leadership
Project Excellence.
As the context in which we work evolves, and the social sector faces new and entrenched challenges, we must continue to work intimately with our clients to seek and apply new ways of thinking, learning, and doing to advance their work. We do so through our integrated services in program design, evaluation, capacity building, technical assistance, and communications, with a focus on root causes of social injustice, and an eye toward emergent, innovative, and adaptive solutions. To support our renewed commitment to project excellence, we are thrilled to announce the promotion of Justin Piff to Vice President, Learning and Impact, to champion organization-wide knowledge and project practices that allow our team to bring the best thinking and guidance to our clients and partners.
Thought Leadership.
We are also committed to showcasing how our clients and partners apply new ways of thinking, and challenge conventional approaches in their efforts to achieve social change, with the hope that these lessons can help inform the broader field. Over the next two years, we will explore new ways to share what we learn through our soon-to-debut EvenBetter Podcast series; small-group regional convenings with funders and nonprofit organizations; a refined website, featuring multi-media vignettes and expanded guest blogs; and publications synthesizing sector trends and resources. We are excited to promote Seth Klukoff to Vice President, Thought Leadership, to help us track sectoral and field trends, anticipate the knowledge that the field will need to “do even better,” and help us develop and expand highly resonant thought leadership and communications products.
Organizational Development.
If we believe we can help our clients—and the social sector more broadly—“do even better,” then it is essential that our organization lead by example. It is one thing to proclaim that we believe in our core values and infuse them into all aspects of our work, but it is another to live these values every single day. That’s why we are continuing to invest significantly in our talent, organizational climate, culture, and professional development efforts at Equal Measure. We are fortunate to have the expertise of Renée Byng Yancey as Chief Operating Officer to continue to build our internal organizational practices, while tending to our strategy-aligned external partnerships to continue to advance our mission.
The vision forged by Tom Burns and his colleagues as they set their eyes west of Penn’s campus roughly 35 years ago remains true in 2019, and is at the core of what propels us this year, and beyond. Tom believed that ideas to increase opportunity came from many corners, from diverse lived experiences, and from a continued commitment to learning. He was driven by the desire to “do good.” With our eyes set on the goal of enduring social change, we continue the legacy by striving to “do even better.”