Learning is Not Dead: How Place-Based Learning and Evaluation Can Be Acts of Resistance
Let’s begin with something that may feel uncomfortable to say out loud: Learning is under attack.
And in the places we care about—neighborhoods, towns, regions—this attack is deeply felt.
We’re living in a moment when the core values that guide place-based philanthropy—equity, inclusion, truth, transparency—are not just being questioned. They’re being dismantled.
Censorship is escalating in the data that helps inform our daily lives, in the questions we’re allowed to ask, and in the words we’re permitted to say. Entire institutions rooted in justice and knowledge are being taken apart. One colleague, working in a public agency, was recently told they could no longer use the phrase “racial disparities” in reporting health outcomes. That’s not about semantics. That’s about silencing. That’s about power.
And let’s be honest: gathering in rooms to talk about equity and learning takes courage right now. It shouldn't, but it does. Because naming the systems, policies, and histories that harm communities and choosing to build something better is increasingly seen as a threat.
But here’s what we know: Learning is not passive. Learning is not neutral. Learning is resistance.
Why This Moment Matters
Nonprofit and community leaders are under pressure. They’re navigating political polarization, threats to their missions, community trauma, and rising disinformation. These challenges often show up first, or most severely, at the local level: they’re in our school board meetings, housing decisions, health policies, and small grant programs. Place-based funders and learning partners are often closest to these frontlines. And many local leaders are asking funders to show up differently.
As the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) recently shared in their report, Challenging Times, nonprofit leaders want funders to take a stand and take action. In their follow-up blog, A Wave Forming, CEP offers powerful suggestions for how funders can respond to this moment with courage, clarity, and alignment.
We’re here to ask: What’s the role of place-based learning and evaluation professionals in philanthropy?
Learning is Resistance
Learning has always been a tool for transformation.
In moments of injustice, it’s also a tool for resistance.
It’s how we remember.
It’s how we refuse erasure.
It’s how we rebuild.
So no—learning is not dead.
And as long as we’re asking questions, listening deeply, and aligning our actions with our values, it never will be.
Let’s keep learning—together.
Ways to Resist Through Learning
Here are seven ways learning and evaluation professionals can show up in this moment:
1. Create intentional listening spaces.
Not just surveys—real, facilitated opportunities to listen to grantee partners. Document what they’re experiencing. Ask what they need. Then lead internally to help deliver it. For place-based funders, these spaces might happen in community centers, over kitchen tables, or during in-person visits.
Listening is strategy. Listening in place means showing up, staying present, and holding space for context.
2. Take the burden off grantee partners.
If you typically require a written report, offer a discussion instead. If you need a theory of change, offer coaching or templates to support it. Don’t let “learning” become another hoop to jump through.
In many local contexts, organizations have limited capacity. Support should reflect the pace and realities of how work actually happens on the ground.
3. Provide support—not just requirements.
Evaluation requests should come with tools, resources, or access to services. If you’re asking partners to reflect on impact, invest in their ability to do so meaningfully. Supporting learning is one way to build trust and shared strategy in the places you serve.
4. Create space for connection.
Authoritarianism thrives on isolation. Fund grantee partner convenings. Facilitate peer learning. Encourage shared strategy and cross-organizational reflection. We are stronger when we learn together.
5. Say the quiet part out loud.
Don’t water down your learning agenda to avoid discomfort. It’s okay to ask about equity. It’s okay to name harm. In fact, place-based learning gives us the opportunity to make those truths concrete. It can reveal how systemic inequities are lived and felt.
Our evaluation questions can either uphold the status quo or disrupt it.
6. Protect truth and data.
Learning and evaluation can be used to illuminate complexity—or to erase it. Push for transparency, document nuance, and refuse to simplify stories that don’t fit cleanly into KPIs.
7. Model learning internally.
We can’t ask grantee partners to grow if we don’t do it ourselves. Create space for pause and reflection inside your own foundation. Treat learning not as a report or a dashboard, but as a culture.
