How a Foundation’s Use of Data and Tech Has Helped Thousands of Arkansans

Every business faces the constant challenge of how to balance success in the short-term with long-term goals and vision. Charitable organizations are no different. For instance, Excellerate Foundation, a public charity serving Northwest Arkansas, has long dedicated themselves to serving the urgent needs of their communities while always looking forward, with an eye on systemic change, all while remaining viable as a business. And Excellerate has found the answer to being an operating foundation that both addresses immediate needs and looks at the deeper roots of the problem — through data-driven initiatives. In 2013, Excellerate (then called Endeavor Foundation) held a Legacy Board Meeting to commemorate its 15th Anniversary. But more than just celebrating past success, the board wanted to use the occasion to imagine an even brighter future for the organization and the region. And they wanted this future to be guided by data. They rebranded to Excellerate in 2020, culminating to create this broader, longer lasting, and more systemic model. “We wanted to become a more data-driven organization that could address the root causes of the many challenges that Northwest Arkansans face, especially those from lower-income families,” says Justin Fletcher, Excellerate’s vice president of programs. “It was then that we started making a few of our big bets — larger, multi-year investments in initiatives that had the potential to have systemic impact.”

A Foundation of Data

One of those bets was Hark, whose mission is to connect residents to vital community resources and services when they need them most. Using Excellerate’s own powerful technology platform, including the most extensive map of regional resources ever compiled in Northwest Arkansas, Hark creates individualized “client plans” and connects individuals and families with the resources — food, housing, healthcare, utilities, transportation and more — they so desperately need. Hark’s map of regional resources covers 10 social determinants of health (from housing to education to social support to transit) and 50 individual areas of need. And through this technology, more than 10,000 Arkansans have been linked with help and services, presenting more than 30,000 needs. The result has been more than 80,000 referrals made through a confidential process between the client and a liaison who can tailor the plan to the individual needs of each client. And it’s free to anyone who wants to connect.

Behind the map, Hark also houses the region’s most robust database of high-impact services, gathering information and insight that can show what resources are available, which are being used, and what might be missing. This not only enables Hark to connect individuals and families to the organizations and help they need, but it also allows them to track data at every level for the benefit of the larger community — addressing the root causes in addition to meeting the immediate individual need. “The data that Hark is collecting on the needs of our specific region has proven vital in validating those needs and convincing partners to join us in tackling them,” says Fletcher. “Millions of dollars that have gone out to people in need, especially during the challenges of the pandemic, have been made possible in large part by the timely, accurate data that Hark provides.”

Upward Mobility

One of the recurring roots of many community needs, from housing to food to healthcare, is a lack of quality jobs. A key part of that is pairing qualified applicants with training and jobs with upward mobility and room for advancement. Again, Excellerate has provided lasting impact by approaching this issue with an eye to the future. Another of Excellerate’s recent initiatives in Upskill NWA, funded in collaboration with Walton Family Foundation, local academic institutions, and major area employers. Together, they tap into the region’s vast workforce and connect individuals with skilled jobs in high-demand industries. While initially focused on health care, Upskill NWA will expand into other key sectors in the coming years.

Based on a model that has proven effective all over the country, Upskill NWA provides financial support for tuition, books, fees, childcare costs, and other historical barriers to education that nontraditional students often face. Each participant is paired with a Career Navigator that can walk them down the road to success. Barely a year old, Upskill NWA already has 100 nontraditional student participants from lower-income families being trained for high-wage, high-demand paramedical positions in the region’s healthcare systems. “The amount of effort to create the necessary partnerships between employers, educators, philanthropy, and local government in that amount of time has been colossal, and yet we and our Upskill NWA have made it a reality,” says Jeff Webster, Excellerate’s president and CEO. “As a result, we are raising the economic prospects of our target population while strengthening the already struggling healthcare industry with its workforce needs, making that care more consistent and high-quality for everyone.”

People Power

While Excellerate prides itself on being at the cutting edge of methodology and technology when it comes to its initiatives, Webster emphasizes that none of it would be as effective without the human touch. Whether it’s a Hark Client Liaison, an Upskill NWA Career Navigator, or any of the men and women working for Excellerate or their dedicated partners, the skill, empathy, and understanding of human beings is vital to every program’s success.

“We have people who have been senior executives at Fortune 100 corporations, we have people with decades of combined experience in the nonprofit and philanthropic arenas, and we have people who know the strengths and the challenges of the social services sector inside and out,” says Webster. “This leads to strong, collaborative leadership that is informed by all of the best practices across those three areas. We don’t know of many other organizations that can say that right now. But we’ve shown that it’s possible in any community if you use the right tools.”