Los Angeles, California

Public Matters is an award-winning, interdisciplinary social enterprise based in Los Angeles that designs place-based, socially engaged civic projects to advance justice and expand opportunity across generations. Through collaborative artistic practice, the organization strengthens the creative, economic, political, and social capital of marginalized communities.

With support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, CSC led an organizational learning and effectiveness initiative to help Public Matters deepen strategic clarity and strengthen long-term impact.

Rather than approaching planning as a static exercise, the engagement centered reflective inquiry, relational alignment, and whole-systems analysis. The process included:

• Clarifying mission, values, and theory of change
• Examining internal practices and external partnerships
• Identifying opportunities for growth and structural refinement
• Aligning programmatic ambition with organizational capacity

The resulting three-year strategic development plan reflected not only operational priorities, but a strengthened alignment between values, relationships, and institutional design.

This engagement reflects CSC’s commitment to supporting creative organizations in integrating inner clarity, collaborative learning, and structural coherence — enabling social impact to be sustained with integrity and resilience.