PRESS RELEASE
Project Evident and Arnold Ventures Celebrate Completion of Evidence Pipeline Accelerator Pilot
BOSTON – Project Evident has concluded its inaugural Evidence Pipeline Accelerator. This pilot, made possible by generous support from Arnold Ventures, represents a shared vision for evidence building that centers practitioners — the leaders and program staff at nonprofits and public agencies — and builds their capacity to drive their own evidence agendas.
We congratulate the inaugural participating organizations who recently completed the Evidence Pipeline Accelerator. The organizations include Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Chapter One, Children’s Funding Project, Footbridge for Families, Habitat for Humanity, Springboard Collaborative, and Third Space Learning. As a result, these organizations developed rigorous evaluation plans that are policy-relevant and aligned with their organizational strategies.
“This initiative with Arnold Ventures plays a crucial role in supporting practitioners as they work to generate evidence that can truly inform impactful change,” said Kelly Fitzsimmons, Founder and CEO of Project Evident. “The Evidence Pipeline Accelerator embodies our commitment to developing practitioner-centered solutions, providing nonprofits the tools to harness evaluation methods that align closely with their goals and the policy questions that matter most. We are excited to collaborate with such dedicated partners and look forward to seeing the impact it will inspire.”
The Accelerator provided participants with tailored support to help them prepare competitive applications for Arnold Ventures’ standing Request for Proposal (RFP) process. Through Project Evident’s strategic evidence-building approach, participants were guided to identify policy-relevant evaluation proposals, collaborate with evaluators, ensure access to necessary data, and develop their plans.
“At Arnold Ventures, we are committed to catalyzing high-quality, policy-relevant research that leads to actionable insights and lasting change. Through our partnership with Project Evident, we are thrilled to support the Evidence Pipeline Accelerator Pilot, which prioritizes rigor and relevance in evaluation,” said Samantha Luciani, Evidence and Evaluation Manager at Arnold Ventures. “We believe this program will empower nonprofits with the tailored tools and knowledge they need to unlock new levels of impact.”
The Accelerator underscores Project Evident and Arnold Ventures’ shared commitment to advancing evidence that leads to meaningful, lasting change. We are excited to celebrate practitioners interested in building evidence and provide them with tools to design the best possible evaluations given their strategies.
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About Project Evident
Project Evident harnesses the power of data, evidence, and technology to create greater impact. We are at the forefront of next-generation evidence practice in the social and education sectors. Project Evident enables practitioners (nonprofits, districts, and state education agencies) and their funders to make better use of these resources by advancing an inclusive R&D approach and embracing scalable, ethical, and cost-effective technology, capacity building, and knowledge sharing to achieve meaningful and equitable outcomes.
About Arnold Ventures
Arnold Ventures is a philanthropy that supports research to understand the root causes of America’s most persistent and pressing problems, as well as evidence-based solutions to address them. By focusing on systemic change, AV is working to improve the lives of American families, strengthen their communities, and promote their economic opportunity. Since Laura and John Arnold launched their foundation in 2008, the philanthropy has expanded, and Arnold Ventures’ focus areas include education, criminal justice, health, infrastructure, and public finance, advocating for bipartisan policy reforms that will lead to lasting, scalable change. The Arnolds became signatories of the Giving Pledge in 2010.