Civic Intelligence Reports
Community Knowledge for Better Decisions
Understand what people are experiencing, which needs call for different responses, and how that knowledge can inform your work.
We help foundations, public agencies, and community partnerships use community insight to make better decisions about funding, programs, and how services are delivered.
Preparation · Hiring Access · Practical Support
Different Barriers Need Different Responses
Cleveland, Ohio | Inclusive Economic Development
During a Breaking Bread Together gathering in Cleveland, participants called for training and practical support. One account also described qualified local tradespeople missing out on nearby projects. Our analysis distinguished three possible barriers: preparation, access to hiring, and the practical conditions that make participation possible. Civic Intelligence Report_Cleve…
That distinction gives workforce and project partners a more precise question to investigate:
Do people need additional training, a clearer route into hiring, or support that makes the opportunity workable?
The answer matters when deciding what to fund or change. Additional training could help someone entering a field while leaving a qualified worker’s hiring barrier untouched.
The report identified the evidence needed to examine those explanations, including job requirements, applicant histories, recruitment practices, and accounts from employers and workers. Civic Intelligence Report_Cleve…
This example demonstrates the analysis and the decisions it could inform. Changes in hiring or community outcomes have not been verified.
Findings Your Team Can Work With
A focused engagement combines a report with the working time needed to examine its implications and agree on a response.
A Concise Decision Brief
The main findings, why they matter, the choices they bring into view, and the questions that need more evidence. Designed for the people responsible for making the decision.
A Working Session
Time with the people responsible for responding. Together, we examine the findings, challenge interpretations, clarify available choices, and identify the responsibilities and dependencies involved.
Supporting Analysis
and Evidence
A deeper account of the conversation, including patterns, differing experiences, competing needs, and relevant limitations. Findings are connected to their sources so your team can examine how we reached them.
A Follow-Through Record
A short record of what the team decided to change, confirm, investigate, or decline. Where commitments are made, we identify an owner and a date to review progress.
Start With the Decision in Front of You
You may be preparing an investment, reviewing a program, planning a community initiative, or deciding what to do with feedback already collected.
We begin by understanding what you need to decide, who is affected, what choices remain open, and when the findings need to be useful. From there, we agree on the scope, evidence, deliverables, and schedule.
We can begin with material you already have. Where important perspectives or information are missing, we can design additional conversations or interviews as part of the engagement.
You receive an initial readout before the completed report, giving your team an opportunity to question our interpretation and contribute relevant context. Before work begins, you will know when to expect that first readout, the final report, and the working session.
The Approach Behind the Report
Our Dialogue Reflection System® supports the capture, comparison, and synthesis of what emerges across conversations. Multarity Thinking® helps us examine different perspectives, assumptions, and competing needs together. The Future of Dialogue
Our facilitators and analysts connect those interpretations to the source material and test them against other possible explanations. We distinguish what people reported, what we infer, and what further evidence is needed. The report makes clear whose experiences are represented and where its conclusions remain limited. Civic Intelligence Report_Cleve…
Learning Across Communities
For organizations working across several locations, we can also examine recurring conditions, meaningful differences, and approaches worth investigating elsewhere. Each finding retains its local context, helping your team consider what may transfer and what requires a different response.
What Decision Are You Working On?
Tell us about the initiative, program, or question you are responsible for. What would you like to understand more clearly, and when do you need to use that knowledge?
We’ll discuss the community input you already have, what additional inquiry may be useful, and whether a Civic Intelligence engagement fits the work ahead.
What are you working on, and what would better community understanding help you decide?