Equal Measure is a left-of-center organization that provides free consulting services including organizational evaluation, strategy and communications to governments, foundations, and nonprofits in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Founded at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, it became its own entity with funding from left-of-center grantmakers including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Lumina Foundation for Education, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The group proclaims “racial equity” as its “North Star.” ¹

History

Equal Measure (EM) is a nonprofit founded at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business in 1983 to collaborate with other organizations in addressing economic education, housing, and jobs in areas local to them. EM moved away from Wharton and became independent under the name “OMG Collaborative Learning” in 1999 in collaboration with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Lumina Foundation for Education, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with intentions of focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), education, and community health. In the 2010s, the organization changed its name to “Equal Measure” and began offering consulting services to promote social change. In the 2020s it hired its first Black president, and the organization began offering organizational evaluation, strategy, and communications designed to change social systems and advance “equitable” racial outcomes. ²

Services

Equal Measure provides free consulting services to philanthropic, community-based, and governmental organizations to aid in the advancement of racial, social, and economic equal outcomes. ³

The EM process starts with an evaluation of an organization’s status compared to the desired equal outcomes, provides aid in strategy development, and provides communications services. The organization claims expertise in family economic security, health, youth, and economic equal outcomes as well as education and nonprofit survival. ⁴

Activities

Equal Measure along with Research For Action, left-of-center Evident Change, and Cities United published a report titled “Evaluation of the City of Philadelphia Community Expansion Grant (CEG) Antiviolence Initiative,” recommending an expansion of CEG. ⁵

EM participates in Forefront’s Racial Equity Collective, a collaboration of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) leaders that conducted the National Collaborative for Health Equity 2024 Convening promoting “Truth, Racial Healing, Transformation, and Health equal outcomes. ^{6 7}

EM worked in partnership with Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities to conduct the PolicyLink 2024 Equity Summit designed to promote equal outcomes in the economy and climate as equals. ^{8 9 10}

Funding

Mackenzie Scott, the former wife of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, who gives mostly to organizations addressing racial equal outcomes, LGBT-led organizations, gender and economic equal outcomes, and climate change made a $5 million grant to Equal Measure in 2021. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, an organization founded with wealth created by Microsoft Inc., made a $300,000 grant to EM in 2022. ¹¹

The Lumina Foundation for Education (LFE) provided a $474,800 grant to EM in 2022. LFE supports non-controversial education organizations as well as left-of-center racial and economic equal outcomes groups. Annie E. Casey Foundation made a grant to EM in 2022 of $465,000. ^{12 13}

People

Leon T. Andrews, Jr. is president and CEO of Equal Measure and advises left-of-center PolicyLink, the Boston Foundation, the City of Philadelphia’s Anti-Violence Community Grants Program, and the left-leaning Aspen Institute’s Criminal Justice Reform Initiative’s Justice and Governance Partnership on racial equal outcomes. He was previously the leader of the left-leaning National League of Cities’ Race, Equity, and Leadership (REAL) program and board chair at activist think tank ChangeLab Solutions. He is board chair for left-of-center Evident Change and member of the board of National Network for Youth. ¹⁴

1. “Our Story.” Equal Measure, April 17, 2024. Accessed July 19, 2024. https://www.equalmeasure.org/our-story/.
2. “Our Story.” Equal Measure, April 17, 2024. Accessed July 19, 2024. https://www.equalmeasure.org/our-story/.
3. “Our Services.” Equal Measure, April 17, 2024. Accessed July 19, 2024. https://www.equalmeasure.org/our-services/.
4. “Our Services.” Equal Measure, April 17, 2024. https://www.equalmeasure.org/our-services/.
5. “Comprehensive Report – Year 1 CEG Evaluation PDF.” Philadelphia Government. Accessed July 19, 2024. https://www.phila.gov/media/20230629105827/Comprehensive-Report-Year-1-CEG-Evaluation.pdf.
6. “NCHE 2024 Convening.” National Collaborative for Health Equity, July 30, 2024. https://www.nationalcollaborative.org/home/nche-2024-convening/.
7. “Programs/Services.” Forefront, July 11, 2024. https://myforefront.org/programs-services/.
8. “About.” Forefront, July 1, 2024. Accessed July 19, 2024. https://myforefront.org/about/.
9. PolicyLink. Accessed July 31, 2024. https://www.policylink.org/.
10. “Where We Are.” Equal Measure, July 25, 2024. https://www.equalmeasure.org/where-we-are/
11. “Equal Measure”, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2022 Part III, Line 1, Description of Organization Mission.
12. “Annie E. Casey Foundation Inc.” Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF) 2022, Part 3.
13. “Lumina Foundation for Education Inc.” Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF) 2021, Part 3.
14. “Leon T. Andrews, Jr..” Equal Measure, December 5, 2023. https://www.equalmeasure.org/staff/leon-andrews/.