States for the future: a data driven policy network

Advocacy 101: Engaging in advocacy and lobbying as a 501(c)(3)
2024-12-12 10:00 - 11:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
Join States for the Future and Bolder Advocacy on December 12th 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET for a primer on nonprofits and policy making. This session will provide comprehensive information on the rules governing policy — and election – related activity by 501(c)(3) organizations and how they can engage without jeopardizing their charitable status. Bring your questions and learn how your organization can participate in developing, implementing and evaluating policy solutions.
Bolder Advocacy is a program of the Alliance for Justice that empowers nonprofits and foundations to boldly advocate on behalf of their missions.

All Network Meeting
2024-11-15 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Join us for our annual All Network Meeting, States for the Future’s virtual state of the union address on November 15th at 11 AM PT / 2 PM ET. Attendees will learn more about the future of the network and how participants can stay engaged. This meeting is open to anyone who is interested in States for the Future, regardless of your participation in our prior events. If you’d like to learn the latest about States for the Future, you are welcome to attend.

Thinking at scale: States and cities collaborating on shared issues
2024-10-17 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Many states, regardless of their political orientation, face comparable challenges, especially as the climate changes and the impacts are not confined by man-made state boundaries.
Join us on October 17 for a conversation with Ten Across, a cross-state organization dedicated to convening diverse perspectives to better share information and to inspire proactive decision-making for resilience and sustainability. Ten Across founder, Duke Reiter, will share his organization’s experience with partnering with states in the southern US to address extreme heat and water management, and how other policy organizations can build coalition, foster optimism, and collaborate with peer states to drive towards policy change.

Preparing for the Big Shift: Changes to Federal Race & Ethnicity Data Standards
2024-07-18 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago)
In 2024, the federal government announced new race and ethnicity data collection and reporting standards that will require changes to how data is collected, analyzed, and presented. This, in turn, will have major implications for state governments and private-sector entities that partner with federal agencies.
Key changes include: 1) combining Hispanic and Race into one category, 2) the addition of a new category, and 3) mandating disaggregation within racial categories like Asian wherever feasible.
By September 2025, federal agencies will submit their agency action plans for implementation. This is a critical time for state policy organizations to better understand the revision process, and to identify “use cases” that can inform and improve federal agency implementation.
In this webinar, AAPI Data, who helped inform the new standards, will share the background of these standards and what they mean for states, how your organization can be prepared to implement these new standards, and how to be a resource for other stakeholders in your state.

Creating & Launching the North Carolina Resilience Index
2024-06-20 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Join the North Carolina Pandemic Recovery Office to learn about their newly launched Resilience Index. The Resilience Index scores their community’s ability to withstand and bounce back from major challenges in nine dimensions, including business and economic vitality, healthcare system, social cohesion, and communications assets.
This session is ideal for anyone interested in learning how to engage with stakeholders such as research partners, academic institutions, and government offices, or about leveraging data to understand the strengths and vulnerabilities of their community.

Analyzing & Communicating about State Budgets
2024-05-23 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Is your organization considering delving into the state budget analysis space, or curious how others operate? Then join us for our May virtual community discussion!
Our speakers are Mandy Spears of the Sycamore Institute and Jason Stein of Wisconsin Policy Forum, both veterans in budget analysis. They’ll be speaking to the basics of their states’ budget processes, how their organizations approach budget analysis, and how they use data and communications to engage their stakeholders.

States for the Future Data Platform Virtual Community Discussion
2024-04-11 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Join Dr. Holly Heard of Texas 2036 and David McClendon of January Advisors in an exploration of the States for the Future Data Platform.
In this virtual community discussion, attendees will learn how to use the States for the Future data platform, including how to best leverage it for advancing their work in their own states, and have the opportunity to chat with their peers about data products they use or built.

2024 States for the Future In-Person Convening
2024-03-04 - 2024-03-05 | Tempe, Arizona
The States for the Future Annual Convening is an opportunity to learn, share, and collaborate with like-minded organizations that are leading policy conversations in their states with data and research. The convening will be held March 4-5, 2024 at the Canopy by Hilton Tempe Downtown in Tempe, Arizona.

Building on the success of our inaugural convening in January 2023, attendees can expect to gain insights through a series of presentations from experts and facilitated discussions amongst each other. The Convening is organized around three themes:

The role of the state & data-driven solutions
Getting smarter: Doing our work & understanding the issues
States for the Future: Collaboration, learning, and next steps

Public Opinion Polling & How to Get Started
2024-02-15 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
How can we ensure the policy conversations happening in our state reflect the priorities of our communities?
Join States for the Future and the Center for the Future of Arizona for a discussion on the use of polling to understand the priorities of our states’ residents. Attendees will learn about “The Arizona We Want” poll and how Center for the Future of Arizona has used polling data to engage communities and decision makers around a shared vision for Arizona’s future.
Presenter: Dr. Amanda Burke is the Executive Vice President of the Center for the Future of Arizona. Dr. Burke focuses on innovation and systemic change that will advance the priorities of Arizonans and the long-term future success of the state. She is responsible for the organization’s strategy, operations, and program leadership, including CFA’s statewide initiatives in the areas of education, workforce, and civic engagement. Amanda is a Senior Advisor to the States for the Future network.
About Center for the Future of Arizona:Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that brings Arizonans together to create a stronger and brighter future for their state. Born from a love for Arizona and a desire to help their state succeed, CFA invests time and resources into the state and its people, including a unique partnership with the Gallup organization to build robust survey research of Arizonans to bring critical issues to public attention, and work with communities and leaders to solve public problems.
CFA offers many resources, such as its Arizona Progress Meter, a web-based tool with interactive data and downloadable charts.
Registration is live through Zoom.

Using Rankings & Reports to Drive Policy Discussions in Your State
2024-01-19 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago)
Join States for the Future and the Common Sense Institute for a conversation about their most recent report and their work in Colorado.
Participants will learn about the process of developing an index that allows us to rank and compare our state’s performance to other states.
We will be joined by Chris Brown, VP of Policy & Research at the Common Sense Institute, who will talk about his organization’s recently released annual Free Enterprise Report and Competitiveness Indices. Chris will share how CSI has used these types of reports inspire, facilitate, and frame policy conversations.

Data Deep Dive: Education
2023-12-12 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago)
Join organizations in the States for the Future network for a discussion on bringing data into state education policy conversations.
Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from organizations doing this work in Texas and North Carolina and share experiences from their own states. Discussion questions:
What north star indicators are states using to drive collective action toward improving education outcomes?
How are non-partisan organizations using data to engage in hot topics in education policy?
Speakers
Cecilia Holden – President & CEO, myFutureNC
Dr. Holly Heard – Vice President, Data & Analytics, Texas 2036

Engaging Stakeholders to Build the Washington Vitals
2023-11-15 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago)
How can you use data to drive ongoing conversations about your community’s future?
The Washington Vitals offer the most current data at the state and community levels to track progress toward Washington State’s desired future. Together with business and community partners, AWB Institute made Washington’s data come to life through good design and ongoing collaboration around the data.
Join Erika Borg of the AWB Institute to learn more about Washington’s approach and discuss efforts in your own state.
Speaker:
Erika Borg has nearly 20 years experience working within philanthropic, nonprofit and corporate circles to improve the lives of young people. In 2018 she started Civic Allies Consulting which supports chambers of commerce, nonprofits and philanthropy in drawing up strategy, programmatic design and identifying funding.
Erika also serves as the Senior Advisor to AWB Institute, a 501c3 affiliated with the Washington State Chamber of Commerce, dedicated to the long-term economic success of all Washingtonians. AWB Institute uses data and long-term economic trends to think through some of the biggest challenges facing Washington. The Institute’s flagship project is Washington in the Making and “The Vitals”. Erika has a Masters of Public Administration from University of Southern California and a Bachelors Degree in English from University of California, Davis.
