Our History — Social Insights Research

How it Started

Social Insights research utilizes innovative qualitative and quantitative methods to respond to the research and evaluation needs of organizations, communities, and movements to transform and amplify.

How it’s Going

Some project highlights over the last few years.

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In 2018, Zuri Tau founded Social Insights Research to respond to the need for BIPOC researchers and evaluators to bring liberatory and equitable practices to measurement and evaluation

Power 50 partnered with Social Insights to develop unique evaluations to determine the multi-year impact on this leadership program for BIPOC women leaders immediately after the Women’s March in 2017

SI developed a one-of-its kind longitudinal study that evaluated the impact of Black Organizing for Leadership and Development (BOLD) trainings on their participants who are leaders who have been working for social change for 6-20 years

Responding to a sector-wide call for justice and equity in research and evaluation practices, Zuri Tau developed the Liberatory Research e-course.

The Women’s Fellowship, a development program of incarcerated women is working to go beyond traditional fellowship or leadership development programs to engage with fellows in the arenas of the mind, body, and spirit. Social Insights Research partnered with The Women’s Fellowship to assess the impact of the program on the fellows' lives and provide lessons learned for the broader field

Black Feminist Future partnered with Social Insights to conduct a first of its kind national survey of Black women, girls, femmes, and queer and trans people in order to learn about their lived experiences of COVID-19

Social Insights, first-time in its history, expanded its staff to hire multiple full-time and part-time staff.

Social Insights partnered with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to support community power organizations and advocacy networks that engage in grassroots organizing, particularly with people who are low-income, of color, and/or youth.

Our Approach

1. Immersion in the Project Background

We explore the project context, including organizational & program history. We explore the organizational perspective, positionally and knowledge. We build relationships with project leaders and stakeholders
2. Considering Assumptions & Ethics of Care

We surface assumptions that contribute to definitions of success. We consider whose lives, spaces, and bodies are the grounds of our inquiry. We ask how community stakeholders benefit from the process and how do we minimize harm?
3. Listening & Establishing Trust

We seek to understand how evaluation or research findings are most useful in this moment? We are transparent about who we are and our background. We see ourselves as an ally in working toward social change.

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Our Values

1. Courageous Inquiry

We encourage our clients to ask the hard questions: Who does this evaluation benefit?What questions aren’t we asking about the intervention? What are the constraints we have established for the research and evaluation?
2. Liberatory Methodology

We value methods that create the opportunity for power-building, growth, and healing. We do that by prioritizing and gathering participants’ needs from the start. We encourage our clients to be open to methods that shape their evaluation and research into something that is done with their participants instead of to them.
3. Relationships

Research is not neutral. Despite what social science education claims, maintaining distance from the participants in an evaluation does not make it more valid or useful. Relationship-building is a indispensable component of establishing trust with all stakeholders. When people trust us- they are more willing to be honest and open with their true thoughts and deep feelings.