2024 YEAR IN REVIEW Making an Impact
Dear friends, colleagues, and partners,
As we approach the end of the year, we're reflecting on what we've learned and the opportunities we've had to partner with you to do good in the world. It's been an honor to come alongside so many people who care deeply about their communities to share in that important work.
Our team has also been reflecting individually on what we plan to carry into 2025, and we wanted to share these intentions with you. Perhaps you have your own intentions for the year to come (or perhaps these inspire you to set some): please share them with us; we'd love to hear them!
And finally, this season marks two years since the passing of Laurie Jones Neighbors, whose memory continues to guide, encourage, and direct us in our work. We remember her every day, but especially at this time of year.
We hope that 2024, with all its ups and downs, has been kind to you, and that you will find time to rest, reflect, and enjoy this special time of year with those who matter most to you.
With all best wishes,
Sheryl E. Lane & Maya Paley
Cities & People Advisors
2024 YEAR IN REVIEW
Making an Impact
This year, we partnered with wonderful organizations to advance educational and environmental goals through an equity lens. This took many forms, from training CBOs on impact reports, to conducting equitable evaluations, to cohort and team facilitation, and along the way we met so many incredible people who are deeply dedicated to their communities and to the well-being and liberation of all humanity.
FIRST 5 ALAMEDA COUNTY NEIGHBORHOODS READY FOR SCHOOL
WORK PLANS & DATA PROFILES
Neighborhoods Ready for School (NRFS) is a place-based initiative launched by First 5 Alameda County in 2018 to support equity and neighborhood-led investment, programming, and policy related to early childhood development, family health and well-being, and kindergarten readiness. We worked closely with the cohort to develop bespoke work plans and data profiles to represent and uplift their work.
PARTNERING FOR IMPACT WITH COLLEGE FUTURES FOUNDATION
We connected with sixteen organizations who are spearheading higher education equity policy in California. The work they do every day is crticial, but it is the people doing the work who inspire us and who give us hope for a better future for all Californians. This is a compendium of bright spots of collaboration among the cohort - stories of impact, learning, and connection that have had (and will continue to have) lasting effects on students and their families. Please check out Partnering for Impact: Propelling the Movement for an Equitable Higher Education System.
COLLABORATION, NOT COMPETITION
Through our engagement with the College Futures Foundation, several themes emerged around the Foundation's strategy with its policy research and advocacy grantees. We learned lessons we felt were important to share with other philanthropic foundations on how they can support their grantees and help enhance their impact in movement-building, policy change, and systems change through breaking down silos and reducing competition as much as possible.
EDTRUST-WEST CORE COLLECTIVE IMPACT REPORTS
The CORE Collective is a two year subgrant program that aims to empower grassroots organizations serving students, families, and communities who have been most affected by racialized opportunity and investment gaps in California's education systems. We worked closely with this collective to develop reports that showcase the impact they're having on their communities.
Learn More About This Project →
REFLECTIONS
Setting Intentions
As we move into a new year, our Cities & People team took a moment to set some intentions around our work, ourselves, and what we bring to each day. We wanted to share those with you - and we'd love to know what yours might look like!
OUR NORTH STAR
Remembering Laurie
We want to spend a moment to reflect on the life of Laurie Jones Neighbors, who passed away unexpectedly in 2022. We work to maintain her legacy in the work we do every day. She was a champion of social justice: never afraid to speak her mind to ensure her community was led in an ethical, equitable direction. We are looking forward to spending 2025 invigorated by our memory of her strength.
To read more about her, see our In Memoriam page here.