When we learn, we grow

Our learning approach has three primary goals:

1. Inform and improve our work
2. Assess the impact of our work
3. Share what we’ve learned with our communities, partners, and other foundations

Informing and improving the work

Our learning informs the strategic approaches we take to realize the goals set forth in our purpose plan. It sheds light on the impact of our investments and guides us on needed shifts to maximize the impact of our investments. We understand that for learning to occur, we must listen, particularly to those in our communities with personal experiences related to the issues we work to address.

Assessing the impact

We aspire to measure and assess the impact of our efforts and to fine-tune the work instead of measuring success or failure. We are mindful to build learning opportunities throughout the spectrum of our work. We are deliberately shifting from program-level evaluation and accountability framing to one where learning is centered at the system and community levels.

Sharing our learning

We see learning as a multilateral pursuit wherein the metrics and indicators for measures of progress are, at times, created in partnership with our grantees. We understand that learning can happen through many forms and mediums. Our emphasis is on centering community voices and the stories of the people most impacted by persistent inequities.

Recent reports

• The Economic Benefits to Missouri and Kansas of Immigration (from The Perryman Group)
• Public Health Data Disaggregation in Missouri (from MOCPHE)

• The Potential Economic and Fiscal Cost to Missouri and Kansas of Proposed Policies Limiting the Role of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (from The Perryman Group)

• Data brief: Arrested Access – Policy changes are needed to make cancer care available to all regardless of  immigration status

• Data brief: Mission Vision Project’s Black Physician Pathway
• Community feedback on the intended outcomes of Health Forward’s purpose-driven strategic plan