I have always welcomed the start of a new year as an opportunity for reflection, renewal, and revitalization – both personally and professionally. It is a time when I am often drawn to Maya Angelou’s wonderful words, “Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: I’m with you kid. Let’s go.” This year, Angelou’s inspirational line resonates with me even more, as our organization moves forward with energy, optimism, and excitement into a new phase of its life, as Equal Measure.
How did we get here? About 18 months ago, at the suggestion of our Board, we embarked on a comprehensive review of our strategic direction. Our primary goal was to reflect on where the organization stood – with 30 years of successful contributions to the field – and identify strategic priorities to frame our next generation of growth. Through a thoughtful and deliberate process, in which we incorporated insights from our Board, staff, clients, and close associates in the field, we decided to solidify our core strength in evaluation, expand our engagements in philanthropic services, and clarify our brand. Simply put, we saw this time as a fresh opportunity to more clearly articulate who we are and what we stand for – forging a new “identity,” while honoring our rich history and solidifying our values and mission.
So why Equal Measure? We believe our new name reflects our core values, how we engage in our work, and with our clients. Equal Measure reflects our ability to balance rigor with flexibility, passion with pragmatism, and ability to merge local nuance with national perspective. It represents our strengths as partners and collaborators, who bring critical lenses and strong leadership to help translate complexity into effective practice and social impact. It underscores how our two lines of work – evaluation and philanthropic services – inform one another and all of our project engagements. And it means championing diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of our work.
As we set forth as Equal Measure, I must also stress that I am thrilled to do so with such a talented team. For us, thought leadership is a collective endeavor, and, as you will see on our new website, each of us brings a wealth of interdisciplinary and professional expertise to the organization and our projects. Our team reflects a mix of practical experience in fields and disciplines such as evaluation strategy, cross-sector partnerships, mixed-methods evaluations, philanthropic services, nonprofit operations and management, and strategic communications.
So at the onset of 2015, we begin the Equal Measure story, and look forward to many years of, as our tagline says, finding promise and fueling change. We are energized, inspired, and ready to share Equal Measure with you. To hearken back to Maya Angelou’s line – Let’s go!