The Work
The co-design process creates an opportunity for collaboration between those who have traditionally been part of the program design process — such as state agencies, professional providers, and other stakeholders — and individuals who have too often been left out — those with lived experience.
When decision-makers and those in power create policies and programs in the public sector without input from lived experts, all too often the result is bad policy and failed programs that don’t meet the needs of the people they seek to serve.
When we center the lived experiences of those impacted by those programs and policies in the design and development process, we get equitable policies that address real issues and successful programs that improve individuals, families and communities.
Rooted in collaboration. Community engagement at our core.
How We Do It
Policy
We work across the continuum of policy work to help put the power of policy back into the hands of the people most impacted by it who can lead the way to equitable, successful policies.
Training
We provide individuals and organizations with the tools and knowledge they need to create lived expertise-informed programs and policies that work for all.
Research
We conduct thorough research and analysis on relevant policy issues and provide expert advice to ensure advocacy and policy efforts are grounded in solid evidence and backed by data.
Programs
We are relationship builders. We affect real change by building coalitions and convening stakeholders to develop programs that meet the needs of the people they serve and improve the lives of those impacted by them.
Communications
We use the power of communication to lift up the voices of lived experts, cultivate messaging and narrative frameworks grounded in lived experiences, and shift the narrative to empower those voices historically left out of the story.