Accelerating Data-Driven Climate Action Through Peer Learning

Nonprofits in the PJMF Accelerator program demonstrate a commitment to shared learning — from actively engaging in our peer learning network to documenting processes and providing examples of how other nonprofits can make progress on their own data journeys.

By Alisa Orlowsky and Nikita Japra

A key component of the Data and Society Accelerator program is our intentional focus on convening communities of action and creating opportunities that support our data-driven nonprofit grant partners in learning alongside one another. This focus emerged from our team’s conversations in recent years with hundreds of nonprofit organizations interested in advancing their data journeys. Many organizations expressed a desire for a shared space to discuss what works (and what does not) at a deeper and more detailed technical level than what most knowledge-sharing platforms had previously provided.

In response to what we heard, we built out an extensive peer learning component to our Accelerator program, structured around virtual cohort mixers, “ask me anything” panels, office hours that dive into common topics of interest, and extensive documentation of the technical steps required to execute individual projects, so that nonprofits outside the cohort can also benefit.

Over the course of this learning journey, we have come to identify three aspirations that guide our approach to supporting peer learning:

1. Finding Commonalities within the Cohort: Peer learning is only valuable if it generates valuable insights and connections for participating individuals and their organizations. Themes and approaches need to be structured so that shared experiences are relevant, but also add value by challenging the status quo.
2. Defining Shared Principles of Engagement: Learning with and from one another requires trust and a safe space. To nurture a trusting environment, we commit to adhering to principles that support and encourage respectful peer engagement within the cohort.
3. Fostering Real-Time Connection Across the Globe: Interactions across time zones, cultures, and personalities — especially virtually — can be challenging and sometimes overwhelming. We build in different means of sharing information so that knowledge exchange can be constructive rather than disruptive.

In order to facilitate peer learning opportunities that were responsive to partner requests and stayed true to our aspirations, we structured peer learning sessions as follows:

Finding Commonalities Within the Cohort
With the goal of knowledge sharing in mind, PJMF organized the cohort’s ten climate-focused nonprofits into clusters according to three overarching themes.

1. Climate and Vulnerable Populations
   UNICEF, Nest, and Rutgers University Climate Change Resource Center
   This group focuses on identifying unmet needs within marginalized populations — such as children, low-income communities, and the informal labor market — through geospatial data. Their shared goal is to influence decision-making that addresses the negative impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities.
2. Wildlife and Ocean Biodiversity
   Centro para la biodiversidad marina y la conservación, Point Blue Conservation Science, and Wild Chimpanzee Foundation
   This group of nonprofits aims to minimize biodiversity loss resulting from climate change by using different types of data, such as satellite imagery and camera trap video. Their projects aim to protect a range of species, from chimpanzees in Africa to birds in California, to fish in Mexico.
3. Climate Resilience and Land Management
   Earth Genome/Earthrise Media, Open Contracting Partnership, Pecan Street, and I2UD
   This group seeks to improve the use of data to monitor regions that are greatly affected by climate disasters or pollution. Through these insights, they seek to support calls to action for efforts like regenerative farming practices, plastic waste removal, and regional infrastructure planning.

The opportunity to work alongside peers on adjacent — yet distinct — projects generates space for a greater diversity of thought. By drawing on these thematic connections early in the program, we aimed to equip participating organizations with the ability to reference one another’s experiences in real-time, rather than waiting to read reports at the conclusion of each project. In fact, during our first few group meetings, we observed that multiple cohort members expressed the shared challenge of effectively communicating the outcomes of their data analyses to both technical and non-technical audiences in order to increase the likelihood that the results inform decision-making.

Defining Shared Principles of Engagement
Peer learning requires trust and can be tricky, especially in virtual settings convened by a funder. To maximize the value of shared time and resources across all partners, we launched this year’s cohort by outlining six principles of engagement:

• Acknowledge the real-life experiences that drive this work. Everyone has a different reason for choosing this particular work as part of their career path, and we want to be mindful of that diversity of experience.
• Embrace risk. The goal of the Accelerator program is to test a hypothesis — not necessarily to validate it. We do not expect smooth sailing every step of the way and want the cohort members to know that up front.
• Communicate your obstacles as well as your wins. It’s great when cohort members cheerlead one another, but we hope that doesn’t make them afraid to also communicate challenges with us or the rest of the cohort.
• Respect the learning journeys of your colleagues, collaborators, and cohort members. The staggered approach to onboarding Accelerator projects means each cohort member may at any point in time be further along or even behind some of the other cohort members. The journey is different for each team.
• Challenge the power dynamic. The Accelerator program is a high-touch collaboration between a funder and a grant partner, and we know this is uncommon. We hope this collaborative approach encourages cohort members to understand that they are considered partners, who are empowered to share opinions with us, even if there are instances where we initially disagree.
• Tell us what you need. We ask, “Is there something you need more of? Or in some cases, less of?” We are eager to work with the entire cohort to maximize what we all can learn from these collaborations.

Fostering Real-Time Connection Across the Globe
An informal survey of the cohort revealed that there was a strong preference for interacting via Zoom and Slack over meeting in person. As we aim to create a rhythm of engagement that champions participation and input from as much of the cohort as possible, we set up a dedicated Slack workspace to create a streamlined, readily-accessible medium for real-time connection. Already, the organizations have begun to use that platform to learn, receive feedback, and tackle challenges with the support of their fellow cohort members.

Our goal is to create a collaborative learning environment in which cohort members can advance their work. As we continue to build this virtual network, there are a few considerations that we keep in mind:

• Multiple time zones might mean hosting the same session at different times, recording events of interest to all, and regularly surveying the grant partners for specific times that work across the cohort.
• Slack engagement can include a variety of approaches and tools, from open-ended questions and interactive polls to simply sharing articles or resources.
• Co-designing and defining a set of principles for virtual engagement is helpful, but so is being responsive to feedback and making adjustments.

While we started the year by setting specific intentions for the Data to Drive Climate Action cohort’s peer learning network, we also recognize the need for adaptability as we are building this out in real-time and with active input from our grant partners. As we work to provide a platform that fosters an engaged and engaging community, we know it may yet take shape in ways we have not yet imagined. Our approach to peer learning will evolve as we continue to gather feedback from the cohort about their interests and needs across different phases of their work. We are excited for engagement to grow within the cohort as they advance in their data journeys alongside one another and celebrate learnings along the way.

Alisa Orlowsky provides support to Data and Society programming operations. She also oversees the administrative functions of the Data and Society team, including coordinating and logistics.

Nikita Japra leads strategy and partnerships for the Accelerator program. She also advises on the Data and Society team’s broader strategy and field-building efforts to ethically and responsibly advance nonprofit data maturity.