You founded Murmuration 10 years ago. What have you learned along the way about community organizing and civic engagement?

I’ve had the honor of partnering with incredible organizations working in communities across the country to drive much-needed change. And along the way, their impact has solidified my belief in the power of communities to shape this country for the better. My goal in founding Murmuration was simple — to support the work of community-focused organizations by providing the technology and data infrastructure needed to effectively mobilize communities to make change possible.

Murmuration focused on K-12 public education first because that’s what I knew — I was seeing firsthand that government and philanthropic support alone weren’t enough to drive the kind of long-term, systemic change needed to improve the quality of public schools for all children — and I wanted to ensure that all kids had the opportunity to live up to their fullest potential. There were many organizations focused on changing the public education system, and few, if any, had access to the tools and data that could dramatically increase their impact. And I wanted to see if we could build a central resource to help them.

We learned from our partners what seems obvious in hindsight — that people and communities don’t exist in issue siloes, and if you are going to effectively engage with people you have to meet them where they are. And that’s why Murmuration now works with organizations working at the community level irrespective of issue. We believe in the power of communities to effect change on the systems that are most negatively impacting them, and we acknowledge that priorities change with time, and we want to support them wherever they are in their journeys.

What motivated you to make amplifying civic engagement so central to your work and mission?

I was raised to believe in the importance of civic engagement — from accompanying my dad to the voting booth on election day, to volunteering with him in and around New York City, to conversations with him about philanthropy, my father raised me with a clear message: that opportunity shouldn’t be determined by where you are born, that everyone has a responsibility to participate in creating a society we can all be proud of, and that it was a great privilege not to be squandered that we could help others.

These lessons have shaped my entire professional career. I worked in the New York City mayor’s office and at Robin Hood (a NYC nonprofit that fights poverty) and saw firsthand that the American dream is increasingly out of reach and that scaling services to a level that effectively addresses societal problems is a massive undertaking. And I realized that while direct services are critically important to meeting the immediate needs of people, civic engagement is key to achieving sustainable systemic change. And if you can get philanthropy, government, and community organizations working together you can truly scale sustainable impact.

“Murmuration is oriented around the belief that community-focused organizations are the most effective agents to transform the systems that are failing us.”

How do you elevate the voices of those most affected by the systems Murmuration is hoping to change?

Murmuration is oriented around the belief that community-focused organizations are the most effective agents to transform the systems that are failing us. These organizations are committed to elevating the voices of their community by ensuring more people participate in democratic processes. And they work to make sure that the issues being prioritized reflect the community’s needs.

Murmuration exists to amplify the work of these organizations by providing them with the data, tools, and research needed to connect with and mobilize people more effectively — enabling them to magnify voices that are too often drowned out. We’ve built the infrastructure to catalyze collective action in local communities to change the systems perpetuating inequity.

“We’ve built the infrastructure to catalyze collective action in local communities to change the systems perpetuating inequity.”

How does Murmuration determine the types of partners you work with?

Our goal is to work with as many community-focused organizations across the country as possible because we believe their work is critical to this country. Their work spans issues and seeks to build healthier and more equitable communities while driving civic engagement and democratic participation.

People often ask me if there’s a partisan angle to our work, and my answer is always the same — the values and work needed to achieve our collective vision for this country don’t fall along partisan lines. Nor do our partners. So we don’t define our partner community by issue area or partisanship. Instead, we look for organizations who believe, as we do, in communities as the drivers for change, who are interested in being part of a larger partner community, and who are willing to adhere to our community standards.

Our goal in partner selection is to develop a broad and thriving partner network that creates connections and opportunities for learning and partnership such that each organization that joins makes the whole a little bit stronger and better positioned to drive impact at scale.

What are your goals for the next five years and what do you hope to see?

We have done some incredible work with our partners in the last decade — and I am so proud of and inspired by what we have accomplished together. With the launch of Organizer, the next five years are really about growing and expanding our partner community so that we can collectively scale our impact. As we increase the number and type of partners who use our data, tools, and research, I want to ensure my team is continually learning how we can make improvements to better support our partners’ work. Working with more partners across various issues will enable us to have a greater impact and to truly effect systems change in communities across the country.

“Right now, there are too many systems that are failing people in this country — and there are too many people who are left out of the democratic processes needed to change those systems.”

If Murmuration achieves its mission, how would America be better than it is today?

Right now, there are too many systems that are failing people in this country — and there are too many people who are left out of the democratic processes needed to change those systems. We currently live in an America where some communities have been and continue to be denied, oppressed, excluded, and impeded by the systems that should support them.

As Murmuration partners with more community-focused organizations, we'll increasingly see the collective power of communities driving essential system changes. We will see more people participating in democracy, more diverse leadership representing and working with communities, and more people having the opportunity to live up to their fullest potential. In short, we will have a thriving democracy and a healthier and more equitable America that we can all be proud of.