Social Finance

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Public Sector Capacity Building

Our Approach

Five colleagues sit around a conference table reviewing papers and laptops during a meeting.

Managing for results is a habit that requires a shared practice from providers, program managers, contract managers, and agency leaders. We train and coach public sector leaders and staff to define success, use data, and act on what they learn, so their programs, and the people who deliver and oversee them, keep improving over time.

Public agencies are asked to do more with flat budgets and thin staffing, while a changing policy environment affects how programs are run. We help organizations adopt practices that are relevant regardless of the funding and policy context: participants bring their own programs, contracts, and data, and set goals, track progress, and change course. When several jurisdictions face the same challenge, we bring them together, often with philanthropic support, so peers learn from each other and good practice spreads faster.

Our areas of expertise 

  • Outcome Selection: Defining outcomes and measuring progress toward them
  • Data: Using data, including AI, to spot problems early and act on them
  • Contracting: Writing contracts and procurements that reward results
  • Performance Management: Building practices that lead to better decisions

How We Work 

  • Workshops and trainings, virtual or in person, for leaders exploring a new approach
  • Cohorts and learning collaboratives that bring several jurisdictions together over months
  • Embedded coaching with a single agency as it puts a new practice in place
  • Tools and resource hubs that teams keep using after the engagement ends

Featured Work

See All Work

People walking along the Venice Beach boardwalk, past a blue arcade building with a “Now Hiring” sign and palm trees.

Transforming Behavioral Health in California

43

California counties joined program webinars and workshops

Child playing on a tire swing at a park with trees in the background and boats visible in the distance.

The AI Learning and Innovation Hub Sandbox

2%-30%

Estimated efficiency gain for government due to AI adoption, depending on the degree of agency investment and support

Social Finance’s teams collaborate with agency staff in a way that encourages thinking, innovation, and implementation. Their innovative ideas from their research and work with other places have helped CT get projects over the finish line.

Beth Bye

Commissioner, Connecticut Office of Early Childhood. No compensation was provided in exchange for testimonial.

Beth Bye headshot