Blog
Learning never stops.
The UPD team is constantly looking for ways to learn more about our industry and, by extension, improve the results we achieve for our clients. Our blog is where we share our latest thinking.
Personal Foul
Many who know me know that, despite my rational self, I have been unable to break the codependent habits formed over a lifetime as a professional football fan. I love the game in spite…
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We’ve declared Racism as a Public Health Crisis, Now What?
Since 2019, 50 municipalities and three states have declared racism as a public health crisis. The declarations are meaningful, but how do they lead to real organizational change? Despite the already huge and growing…
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Walking the Walk & Talking the Talk of Equity Benchmarking
Analyzing equity benchmarks across a wide range of topics (i.e., education, health care, housing and economics) is much more feasible and important than ever before. The wealth of open data has placed public sector organizations…
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Leading with Impact: How companies are implementing ADEI initiatives to open doors to success.
My grandfather was a civil rights leader in San Antonio, TX. He was instrumental in desegregating lunch counters and movie theaters in 1965. He was motivated by a simple but noble goal for Black girls…
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Community Voice: Forethought not Afterthought
UPD’s panel “Turning Stakeholders into Champions” spotlights cutting edge family and community engagement strategies that go beyond online surveys. We are at a new point in history where “stakeholders” in school districts can no longer…
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Recharging Requires Engagement Rather than Disengagement: What We’re Reading, Part 3
For Your Health, Schedule Reading Time Like You Would Workout Time Over the course of the past few weeks, we’ve asked you to join us as we’ve highlighted some of the most influential books off…
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Recharging Requires Engagement Rather than Disengagement: What We’re Reading, Part 2
Reading, as Self-Care, Includes the “Deep Stuff” Too Last week, we introduced you to the concept of reading as self care. Sure, typical “beach reads” allow us the opportunities to participate in escapism…plummeting us through…
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Recharging Requires Engagement Rather than Disengagement: What We’re Reading, Part 1
Why Reading is the Self-Care We All Need Right Now: A Recommendation to Get You Started When we think of using the summer months for self care, we often think of relaxing by the water,…
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Quantitative Data Reflections: Innovating for Equity
Over the course of the last decade, public sector organizations’ collection, analysis and communication of data through an equity lens has significantly expanded. We’ve had the opportunity to leverage some of these best practices…
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Queen Me: Using Federal Funding To Transform into a Learning Organization
How Do You Understand the Long Game of Federal Funding? Currently, almost two trillion dollars in federal funding is available through the American Rescue Plan (ARP), with a large portion of the pot being made…
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