Digital Commons Network^™

Case Study: Using Ai To Design More Effective, Efficient, And Equity Focused Grant Application Review Processes, Emily Yu, Bryan Speelman

The Foundation Review

Grants fuel millions of organizations and advance social innovation across sectors. In the United States, foundations and corporations respectively awarded $103.5B and $36.5B to nonprofits in 2023 alone (Childress, 2024; Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, 2024).

By extension, grant applications play a critical role in how grant recipients are identified and selected. While many funders are eager for more streamlined and equitable processes to review grant applications, the process remains primarily a manual and time consuming one (Hewlett Foundation, 2021). These factors leave some funders implementing grant application processes potentially at odds with their impact goals. Examples include restricting who …

Understanding Executive Order 13583’S Impact To Federal Workforce Diversity & Employee Perception Of Federal Policies And Programs, Michael Robert Arenella

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

Creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DE&I) workforce produces beneficial organizational outcomes, such as decreased turnover, improved creativity and innovation, and improved organizational performance (Diaz-Garcia et al., 2013; Gomez & Bernet, 2019; McLeod et al., 1996; Singh & Selvarjan, 2013). While the private sector has placed much emphasis on improving DE&I in their hiring practices, whether the federal government has achieved comparable outcomes remains unclear. Guided by the punctuated equilibrium theory (PET), this dissertation examines the impact of Executive Order 13583 on both change in workforce composition, and employee sentiment towards diversity policies and programs.

Using a multi-level, multi-method, …

U.S. Military Veterans And Socioeconomic Opportunities: A Financial Lens On National Public Service, Corri Zoli, Linda Euto, Rosalinda Maury

The Lender Center for Social Justice

This brief offers policy-relevant insights into how military service is an important lever for socioeconomic opportunity and social mobility in the United States. Drawing on the social science literature and recent data from federal sources, this brief focuses on the many financial advantages that result from service, whether due to standardized military pay rates, military networks, or military and veterans’ benefits, from the GI Bill to housing allowances. Such financial advantages from service may also reduce socioeconomic disparities and create economic opportunities for military service members, from building intergenerational wealth to becoming homeowners, including for underrepresented minority service members.

The Identity Navigation Challenge, Arielle Badger Newman, Mauricio Mercado, Ashley Gomez, Rosalinda Maury

The Lender Center for Social Justice

While veteran status should serve as a credential that opens doors for entrepreneurs, our research reveals a troubling reality: underrepresented racial minority (URM) veteran entrepreneurs must perform complex "identity work" to navigate bias in funding and support systems. Through interviews with 76 veteran entrepreneurs, we discovered the Intersectional Legitimacy Work Model, a three-phase process showing how entrepreneurs strategically manage their race, gender, and veteran identities when seeking resources. Black and Latino veteran entrepreneurs report having to prove they are the "right kind" of veteran, often downplaying or emphasizing aspects of their identity depending on their audience. This creates an exhausting …

Dialogue And Storytelling To Bridge The Civil-Military Gap On Campus—And Beyond: Resources And Recommendations, Corri Zoli, Linda Euto

The Lender Center for Social Justice

This brief presents key applied insights from innovative approaches to bridge the gap on college campuses between student veterans and nonveterans. The brief provides a model for using dialogue and storytelling as powerful pedagogical and research tools to share insights with students and the broader public about public national service, the distinctive contributions of U.S. military service members, and the transition needs of military students in higher education.

Addressing The Wealth Gap: Supporting Urm Veteran Entrepreneurs Through Evidence-Based Policy, Arielle Badger Newman, Mauricio Mercado, Ashley Gomez, Rosalinda Maury

The Lender Center for Social Justice

Despite military service providing valuable leadership skills and discipline, underrepresented racial minority (URM) veteran entrepreneurs face significant barriers to financial sustainability and business growth. Our analysis of 1,859 veteran entrepreneurs reveals that Black veterans experience lower financial sustainability compared to White veterans, while women URM veterans are more likely to be denied credit. These disparities persist even after accounting for military service and rank, highlighting the need for targeted policy interventions. This brief recommends three evidence-based strategies: reforming credit assessment practices, establishing dedicated funding programs for URM veteran entrepreneurs, and creating mentorship networks that address intersectional challenges. Implementing these policies …

Is Military Service A Social Mobility Mechanism? Military Participation And Socioeconomic Benefits—Recommended Research And Data Resources, Corri Zoli, Linda Euto, Rosalinda Maury

The Lender Center for Social Justice

This research brief shares research and data resources that examine how military participation, particularly professional training and education, function as mechanisms for social mobility, leading to higher socioeconomic advantages among U.S. military members and veterans, including minorities.

Aiding And Abetting Scientific Integrity In U.S. Federal Government Agencies, Keeley Townsend

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Science can play a critical role in supporting sound public administration and policy decisions. However, the value that science provides to government decision-making is contingent on a government’s scientific integrity standards and the degree to which employees adhere to those standards when conducting, managing, using, or communicating about science. Within the U.S. federal government, scientific integrity standards have historically been defined and applied inconsistently, at times resulting in harmful government actions.

Since at least 2000, the U.S. Congress and several executive administrations have taken steps to strengthen scientific integrity in government operations. One recent step included requiring all federal government …

The Role Women Play As Facilitators And Barriers In The Career Trajectory Of Female Leaders, Anna Marie Smith

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

As gender diversity in the American workplace increases, the complexities surrounding the challenges faced by women continue to evolve. In recent years, this shift has led to an increase in women entering the workforce in record numbers, providing them with opportunities for successful careers, particularly with respect to leadership, all while balancing work and family life. However, despite the significant gains women have made in the employment arena, they continue to lag behind their male counterparts when it comes to leadership opportunities. While research is abundant on the characteristics of female leaders, what motivates them, and how they compare to …

Policymaker Receptivity To Corporate Political Activity As Influenced By Activists, Mark E. Bateman

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation considers the role of shareholder resolutions and employee strikes as representations of activist activities targeting corporations and their influence on corporate political activity (CPA). The study builds from the McDonnell and Werner (2016) study in Administrative Science Quarterly, “Blacklisted businesses: Social activists’ challenges and the disruption of corporate political activity” that assessed the role of consumer boycotts vis-à-vis CPA. Starting with the political marketplace framework, introducing the policy relationship framework, and using signal theory, the dissertation found some support that shareholder resolutions and employee strikes related to increases in PAC refunds, that temporal issue salience to the …

Perception Of Drinking Water Quality Among Arkansas Residents, Kolade Olawale Olatunde

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Perceptions of drinking water quality influence public trust, water consumption behaviors, and the willingness to invest in infrastructure improvements. Despite the importance of safe drinking water, regional and socio-economic disparities impact how residents perceive their tap water and their readiness to pay for enhancements. While past research indicates that negative views of tap water quality have resulted in behavioral changes, the connection between perception and actual household water usage remains ambiguous. This study aims to investigate how perceptions of drinking water quality differ across regions in Arkansas and how residents are willing to invest in quality improvements. Method: A …

Money At Work: How The Inflation Reduction Act Reshaped The Irs, Richard Hansen

University Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to analyze and explore the ways in which the funding increase for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) present in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) has impacted the real life operations of the agency. These impacts will be examined across two broad categories: the ways in which the IRS has offered improved taxpayer services, and the ways in which the IRS has been better equipped to collect owed taxes and enforce tax compliance since the passage of the IRA. Existing data and literature indicates that the increased IRS funding has been correlated with some improvements across …

Taming The Wicked Problem: Transparency, Civic Apathy, And The Challenge Of Rebuilding Trust In Local Government, Austin N. Kaiser

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

Since the 1960s, the United States has experienced a persistent decline in public trust in government. The Founders believed that government could only function with the consent of the governed, making this erosion of trust a significant concern for democratic legitimacy. In response, many scholars and practitioners have championed transparency as a pillar of sound governance and a potential remedy for rebuilding trust. However, the solution may not be as simple as improving openness. Public officials increasingly recognize that transparency alone may have limited or even unintended consequences, especially when public participation is low or administrative resources are strained.

This …

Identity Salience Of Organizational Culture: The Intersection Of Racial And Occupational Identities In High-Risk Professions, Sarah Espinosa

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

Despite decades of effort, issues of race and color in organizations remain unresolved. Representative Bureaucracy (RB) has been a necessary but insufficient response to these challenges. While RB promotes diversity and inclusion, it struggles to address deeper issues of equity and justice, which are seen in the persistence of police brutality, even with increased representation of officers of color. This dissertation will propose a new theoretical approach to address the shortcomings of RB, a framework for the Identity Salience of Organizational Culture (ISOC). The ISOC framework seeks to build beyond RB to explain how the culture of high-risk professions with …

Healthy Islands At 30: Revitalising An Ecological Framework For Planetary Health, Anaseini Ratu, Sione Tu'itahi, Timoci Naivalulevu, Donald Wilson, Helen Moewaka Barnes, Rebecca Patrick, Hannah A. Turley, Stacy D. Jupiter, Alice Latinne, Joel Negin, Margot W. Parkes, Anthony Capon, Pierre Horwitz, Aaron P. Jenkins

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

No abstract provided.

Front And Back Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Base Building Evaluation: Three Opportunities To Improve Its Use And Relevance, Katie Fox, Margaret A. Post

The Foundation Review

The concept of base building comes from the traditions of electoral and labor organizing, where organizers focus on drawing leadership from a specific constituency or geography. Base building is foundational to organizing efforts. It involves the recruitment, training, and leadership development of people who are often most directly impacted by the issues and causes that organizing focuses on.

In recent years, base building has seen increased interest and investment from the philanthropic sector as funders recognize base building as critical to community-led change. As funders expand their investment in base building, they increasingly seek information and data about base building …

Beyond Transactions: Building Relational Partnerships Between Evaluators And Foundations, Lauren Beriont, Cassie Bruny, Madison N. Garcia, Ebonie Guyton, Chelsey Hurt, Leah Josephson, Kate Mallula, Mary Mattson, Rory Neuner, Ramona Perry, Andrea Prado Tuma, Sarah Smith, Kim Van Der Woerd, Sofia Vitalis

The Foundation Review

The co-authors have framed this article as an emergent learning journal of sorts, summarizing observations, findings, and key takeaways; walking the reader through the process, key tensions, and classic myths they identified; and highlighting principles they uncovered that underlie and lay the groundwork for imagining more equitable ways for evaluation consultants and foundations to act in relationships.

When 'More Isn't More': The Normative And Practical Case For Improving Genetic Data Infrastructure, Sofia Labrecque, Jonathan Lawson, Bronwyn Danielle Walsh, Vasiliki Rahimzadeh

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Survey Of U.S. Reproductive Medicine Clinicians’ Attitudes On Polygenic Embryo Screening, Rémy A Furrer, Dorit Barlevy, Aayushi Gandhi, Shai Carmi, Todd Lencz, Stacey Pereira, Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Polygenic embryo screening (PES) is used to screen embryos for their genetic likelihood of developing complex conditions and traits. We surveyed 152 U.S. reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialists (REIs) on their views of PES. While most respondents (97%) were at least slightly familiar with PES, general approval of PES was low (12%), with the majority expressing disapproval (46%) or uncertainty (42%). A majority (58%) believed risks outweigh benefits, while only 16% felt benefits outweigh risks. Most clinicians (85-77%) were very or extremely concerned about low accuracy, confusion over results, false expectations, and eugenics. Nonetheless, when asked to vote on whether …

A Narrative Review Of Dual Loyalty Conflicts In Custodial Settings And Implications For Community Practice, Michelle Suh, Marc David Robinson, Holland Kaplan

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Dual loyalty dilemmas are conflicts between health care professionals' obligations toward their patients and third-party interests. These conflicts are more common and starker in custodial settings, such as jails and prisons, military detention facilities, immigration detention centers, and involuntary psychiatric institutions. Despite encountering patients in custody, health care professionals (HCPs) in community settings have limited knowledge and training. In this narrative review, we examined dual loyalty conflicts faced by HCPs working in custodial settings and then applied the identified themes to community-based hospitals where HCPs care for patients in custody. We searched databases for original papers relating to patients in …

An Assessment Of The Viva Callesj September 2025 Event In San José, Richard Kos, Adam Cohen

Mineta Transportation Institute

Viva CalleSJ is an open-streets initiative where several miles of the City of San José’s streets are closed to vehicular traffic, allowing residents to walk, bike, scooter, and skate freely. This report evaluates the Viva CalleSJ event held in San José on September 7, 2025, which attracted more than 150,000 participants. Using a mixed-methods approach, this evaluation examines aspects such as attendance, activities, modal access, and economic impacts, utilizing data from participant surveys (in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese), interviews, and observational analysis. The findings indicate that the Viva CalleSJ September 2025 event was largely successful in achieving its objectives, including …

What Do Americans Think About Federal Tax Options To Support Transportation? Results From Year Sixteen Of A National Survey, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Hilary Nixon

Mineta Transportation Institute

This report summarizes the results from the sixteenth year of a national public opinion survey asking U.S. adults questions related to their views on federal transportation taxes. A nationally representative sample of 2,539 respondents completed the online survey from February 3 to February 27, 2025. The questions test public opinions about raising the federal gas tax rate, replacing the federal gas tax with a new mileage fee, and imposing a mileage fee just on commercial travel. In addition to asking directly about support for these tax options, the survey collected data on respondents’ views on the quality of their local …

Exploring Electric Bicycle Safety Performance Data And Policy Options For California, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Kevin Fang

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study was conducted as directed by California Senate Bill 381 (2023), which called for research to help policymakers develop effective laws and policy to support the twin goals of expanding electric bicycle use and protecting the safety of electric bicycle riders and other road users. The three major strands of findings presented in this report are (1) a review of how California and other states (and countries) regulate electric bicycle use, (2) a review of the electric bicycle safety literature, including original analysis of primary data on crashes, injuries, and deaths, and (3) strategies that the state could adopt …

Collective Learning In Philanthropy: Ai, Trust, And The Future Of Grant Reporting, Rachel Kimber, Valerie Ehrlich, Blanch Vance, Abigail Osei

The Foundation Review

Grant reporting has largely devolved from a learning tool to a bureaucratic exercise that reinforces power asymmetries and burdens nonprofits. As philanthropy confronts mounting crises demanding equity and transparency, reporting must transform into a space for collective sensemaking.

This paper explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI), paired with Oral and Alternate Reporting (OAR) methods, can build equitable, human-centered reporting systems. We propose the E⁴ framework — Efficiency, Effectiveness, Expansiveness, and Equity — for intentionally leveraging AI in service of more equitable reporting practices.

Traditional reporting often sidelines the expertise of nonprofit staff and communities most affected by funded programs. Drawing …

Tfr 17.3 Full Issue

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

The Ai Contributor: A New Thought Partner In Systems Change, Jewlya Lynn, Rachel Reichenbach

The Foundation Review

Many foundations are making long-term commitments to advancing systemic change, continually adapting and refining their approaches along the way. An emerging and often underutilized tool in their systems change toolkit is generative artificial intelligence (AI).

AI is enhancing practices across philanthropy, often focused on increasing efficiencies and scaling or streamlining human tasks. What if we instead focus on what AI can do that is distinctly different from what a human can offer? In the world of systemic change, we continue to struggle with the complexity and intractability of systems and finding moments when systems can be shifted. AI can be …

Ädeeja: Origem Dos Alimentos Cultivados E Práticas Alimentares Ye’Kwana, Viviane Cajusuanaima Rocha (Povo Ye’Kwana)

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

O artigo explora a ligação entre a cosmologia do povo Ye’kwana e suas práticas alimentares tradicionais, com base no conceito central de ädeeja, que representa os alimentos cultivados. Esse termo abrange mais do que a ideia de comida — ele carrega uma dimensão cosmológica e relacional, conectando humanos, espíritos, plantas e o território. Está ligado a uma rede de relações entre humanos, espíritos vegetais e saberes ancestrais. Representa a comida como elo com o cosmos, reforçando a interdependência entre os seres. Minha análise mostra que, para os Ye’kwana, alimentar-se é um ato cósmico, enraizado em narrativas, cantos e relações …

Prosperando Con Otros: Paisajes Multiespecie Y Producción De Alimentos En El Caribe Colombiano, América Larraín

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Este artículo es resultado de un proyecto de investigación asociado a la producción de alimentos en una comunidad arhuaca en las tierras bajas de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Se describen algunas experiencias de la implementación del proyecto, destacando los aspectos relacionados con la articulación entre las técnicas derivadas de la agroacuicultura integrada y la cosmovisión arhuaca. Con este artículo, se espera contribuir a la reflexión sobre cómo las cosmologías indígenas se materializan en prácticas concretas, que en este caso específico podrían pensarse en el marco de lo que se ha llamado el Buen Vivir.