About C3E

C3E strives to create a more equitable and inclusive American democracy. Our mission is to support and enhance the performance of state and local government and the broader social sector through an equity-driven values framework that balances efficiency with effectiveness and is always centered around maximum inclusion and belonging for all. A key pillar of our work is to remain in service to community and civic engagement building. We aim to foster understanding, collaboration, and trust in order to address public concerns and improve the quality of life for all community members.

Equity is a policy framework that sets the criterion for policy and process analysis toward outcomes such as increasing trust in government, expanding the circle of concern, stewardship of land and natural resources, and much more.

Effectiveness, in an equity framework, attaches value to the social and civic outcomes that the social sector can uniquely deliver. These outcomes include feelings of community, reduction in polarization, equality, fairness, and justice.

Efficiency, in an equity framework, guides cost-benefit analyses in improving the performance of public organizations through capacity-building within the organization.

One way of understanding the relationship among the three is: