Last year was an exercise in resilience for Fair Chance and our 120 nonprofit in DC and Prince George’s County. The pandemic has  far-reaching consequences for the families and communities our nonprofit partners serve. Our staff has worked hard to support these organizations as they have been nimble, responsive, and innovative in addressing growing needs while experiencing decreasing funds.

In spite of taking on additional work during the pandemic in 2020, Fair Chance continued to focus on two very important priorities: completing an audit of our internal operations around race, equity, diversity, and inclusion and kicking off an external evaluation of our capacity building model and data. I am happy to report that our consultant, Building for Mission, completed our racial equity audit in January 2021 and has shared recommendations for how we can improve upon our efforts to build equity into our internal policies and practices. We are reviewing Building for Mission’s findings as a team and I look forward to sharing our next steps with you soon.

After receiving 23 applications in response to our RFP, Fair Chance selected Social Policy Research Associates (SPR) to conduct an evaluation of our Praxis Partnership Program, outcome measures, and our data. SPR is a recognized leader in the field of social research and we are looking forward to the results of their findings. Some of you may be asked to participate in interviews and we appreciate your participation in advance.

– Sallie Lampron, Research and Evaluation Manager, Fair Chance

Over seven years, I have seen how Fair Chance’s partnership program leads to organizational transformation that translates into better results for children, youth, and families. The findings of the two efforts described above will provide a road map for us to improve upon and grow our impact. We look forward to continuing to keep you informed.

In Service,

Gretchen Van der Veer, PhD
Chief Executive Officer