Like what you hear in Podcast episodes? See how Clear Impact software can help you Turn Curves in a custom, private demo.
Turning Curves Podcast
Welcome to Turning Curves Podcast, where we uplift perspectives from people doing inspiring work to make a measurable difference in their communities. Join us quarterly as we meet with champions of data-driven decision-making from diverse sectors.
Latest Episodes
In this episode, we interview three Clear Impact Senior Consultants, Dan Duncan, Marcos Marquez, and Jennifer Duncan on their journey with Results-Based Accountability, the challenging and rewarding world of consulting, and tricks and tips on group and community alignment.
About Dan Duncan
In his current role, Dan brings a wealth of Results-Based Accountability (RBA), Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), and Collective Impact experience to Clear Impact clients across the country. He uses this extensive experience to help clients and communities achieve even greater community-level results.
Dan Duncan also has extensive professional management experience in the nonprofit, educational, and for-profit professional service sectors. He has used this experience to provide training and consultation both nationally and internationally.
Most recently, Dan served as the Owner/ Lead Consultant of H. Daniels Duncan Consulting, where he provided national and international consulting, training, and public speaking on ABCD, RBA, Collective Impact, strategic planning, nonprofit management, board governance, fundraising, and outcomes measurement. He has authored several publications on these topics, including the white paper: United Way Collective Impact: the Power of ABCD and RBA. In addition to his consulting practice, Dan has served as a faculty member of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University for 20 years.
Dan previously served as a Senior Vice President for the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, where he was responsible for the organization’s community building, public policy, grant-making, marketing, information technology, and constituent relationship management activities. During his time with United Way of Tucson, he generated more than $35 million in federal, state, and foundation grants to support community impact work. He was also recognized by Former Arizona Governor Napolitano as a statewide leader in early childhood education.
Before returning to Tucson he was the Vice President for Community Building and the Executive Director of the Community Services Council for the United Way of Central Indiana in Indianapolis. He also served for eight years as President of the Mesa United Way in Mesa, Arizona. He started his United Way career in the late 70s, at the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona as the Director of Planning and Allocations and Chief Operating Officer (COO).
After receiving a Masters of Social Work (MSW) from Arizona State University, Dan started his professional career as the Founder and Executive Director of the Community Food Bank and the Executive Director of Information and Referral Services, both in Tucson, Arizona.
About Marcos Marquez
Marcos Marquez has more than two decades of experience in guiding communities and organizations to apply the principles of RBA. Since joining Clear Impact in 2015, he has trained hundreds of stakeholders and communities across Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin on the principles of RBA. He has successfully guided RBA projects focused on education, health, public safety, or workforce development in Austin, Baltimore, Cleveland, Columbus, Denver, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Orlando, Seattle, and many others.
Currently, Marcos is guiding the application of RBA and implementation of Clear Impact Suite for the following projects:
- Efficiently building capacity for UCare in Minneapolis, MN
- Accelerating regional workforce outcomes in Cleveland, OH and Seattle, WA
- Creating governmental efficiencies in Cleveland, OH, Los Angeles, CA, and Little Rock, AR;
- Supporting the system of care for foster care children in Sacramento, CA;
- Strengthening health outcomes for the Cherokee Nation and Muscogee Tribe in Oklahoma;
As an RBA expert, Marcos has a genuine passion for helping communities to measurably improve outcomes for people. He resides in San Antonio, Texas and enjoys spending time with his two children and trail running.
About Jennifer Duncan
Jennifer Duncan has more than a decade of progressive public sector leadership experience. Her background is in training, coaching, and implementation of the Results-Based Accountability framework. Jennifer has supported a variety of nonprofit organizations, coalitions, and service systems to understand Results-Based Accountability concepts, make connections to community-level impact, and develop aligned performance measures. Additionally, Jennifer has experience building data collection tools and processes that capture performance measures and best tell the story of an organization’s impact on children, youth, and families.
Jennifer previously served as the Director of Data & Evaluation for the Local Management Board in Baltimore City. In this role, she led a team focused on data capacity building for programs that provide direct services to young people and their families. In addition, she supported the transition to organization-wide implementation of the Results-Based Accountability framework that strengthened data-driven decision making for internal operations and external funded partners.
Jennifer also has experience in strategic planning, data analytics and visualization, program evaluation, and project management. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Elon University and a master’s degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Management from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Jennifer has a professional certification in Results-Based Accountability.
In this episode, turn the podcast series on its head and interview three of our own Senior Consultant on their path towards using, teaching, and guiding those in Results-Based Accountability
Brent Kelsey is the Director for the Office of Substance Use and Mental Health. In this position, he administers public substance use disorder and mental health services and oversees the Utah State Hospital. Brent also serves as an Assistant Division Director responsible for behavioral health within the Division of Integrated Health (Medicaid). Brent has worked in public behavioral health administration for 25 years.
Prior to his current role, he served as the Assistant Director for Substance Use Disorders. Brent also worked as the Justice Program Manager responsible for Drug Courts and other programs designed to ensure that individuals involved with the criminal justice system have access to effective treatment. In 2004, Brent was chosen to receive the Governor’s Award from the Utah Substance Abuse and Anti-Violence Coordinating Council for outstanding contributions to the substance abuse field. Brent served on the Justice Reinvestment Initiative Implementation Committee, The Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, and the Utah Substance Abuse Advisory Council. Brent began his career working for the Salt Lake County Criminal Justice Services Felony Drug Court Program.
Brent was educated at the University of Utah, and the Saint Louis University School of Law. He lives in Salt Lake City with his wife Jennifer, their two children and one precious hound.
Episode 3 – Coleen Heaton: Changing the Way the World Sees People With Disabilities
January 29th, 2025 | 43 Min
In this episode, we talk to Coleen Heaton
Coleen Heaton’s journey in the disability sector began in 1993 as a volunteer in a special education classroom. Motivated to make a difference, she built the volunteer program at Challenger Little League in Waco, Texas, serving as Buddy Coordinator for over a decade. This led to the creation of No Limitations, a non-profit offering adaptive sports to people with disabilities.
With deep empathy and understanding, Coleen has developed and implemented programs to address the unique needs and challenges of individuals with disabilities and their families. As the Executive Director of The Arc of McLennan County, she remains dedicated to serving the disability community with her expertise and passion.
Coleen is also a board member of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD), Texas Chapter.
Episode 2 – Anne McIntyre-Lahner: From Data Fear to Data Enthusiasm
September 24th, 2024 | 1 Hr 3 Min
For our second episode, we interview Anne McIntyre-Lahner, the CEO of Action 2 Outcomes, and discuss overcoming the fear of data. Learn about Anne’s book, Working with Data in the Public Sector: From Fear to Enthusiasm. This is the first book designed for practicing and future public administration professionals to help them overcome any anxiety about using data effectively in their roles.
After 35+ years in the human services field, Anne knows how hard nonprofit and government employees work. She also knows how frustrating it can be to work really hard and still feel like you are just spinning your wheels.
Anne developed Action2Outcomes to support and empower government and nonprofit leaders who are ready to focus on outcomes.
Anne has worked in the human services field for thirty-seven years, including twenty-six years with the State of Connecticut, where she has served in numerous management roles for the Judicial Branch and the Department of Children and Families. Throughout her career, she has focused on systems change by developing and overseeing accountability practices and leading strategic planning and performance management work.
At DCF, Anne implemented agency-wide utilization of Results Based Accountability (RBA) for internal and contracted-service planning and performance management, and implemented an outcome-focused approach in disaster-preparedness planning for the agency. She is a leader in Connecticut’s inter-agency RBA projects, and as a certified RBA trainer, she regularly helps colleagues and service providers focus on results to improve their operations and outcomes. Anne is a frequently requested speaker on implementing data-driven, and outcome-focused work across large systems, and has presented at numerous local, national, and international conferences on data-driven decision-making, managing for results, and strengthening government accountability.
Before entering state service, Anne worked in the non-profit sector for 11 years. She holds a BA degree in English and Experimental Psychology, and a MS degree in Counseling and School Psychology. She is an adjunct faculty member in the Criminal Justice Department of the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences at the University of New Haven, and also at the University of Connecticut, Department of Public Policy.
Anne is the author of Stop Spinning Your Wheels: Using Results-Based Accountability to Steer Your Agency to Success about implementation of RBA for public or private agency leaders who are ready to focus on outcomes to ensure the people they serve are better off. She is co-author of Working with Data in the Public Sector — From Fear to Enthusiasm.
Anne and her husband own and operate Olympia Farm, a small family farm in Guilford, CT.
For our pilot episode, we interview Mark Friedman, the founder of Results-Based Accountability and Director of the Fiscal Policy Studies Institute. Delve into what inspired Mark to develop RBA, what the future of the framework looks like, and explore his current reading list.
Mark Friedman is a speaker, consultant and author of the books Trying Hard Is Not Good Enough: How to Produce Measurable Improvements for Customers and Communities(2005) and Turning Curves — An Accountability Companion Reader (2017). Mr. Friedman founded and directs the Fiscal Policy Studies Institute (FPSI) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has provided training and consultation on his acclaimed Results Based Accountability™ (RBA) framework in over 40 US states and countries around the world. RBA has been used at every level of government and across nearly all government functions. It has been used by a wide range of non-government organizations including United Ways and charitable foundations. The Guardian called the framework “Simple Common Sense, Jargon-free.” In 2009, Mr. Friedman presented the RBA framework at the OECD 3rd World Forum in Busan, South Korea.
Prior to founding FPSI in 1996, Mr. Friedman served for four years as a Senior Associate at the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington, DC. In 2009 the Center awarded Mr. Friedman honorary status as Senior Fellow. Before working at the Center, Mr. Friedman served for 19 years in the Maryland Department of Human Resources (the State’s welfare and social services agency), including six years as the Department’s Chief Financial Officer.
In addition to Trying Hard Is Not Good Enough, Mr. Friedman has authored a wide range of papers on results-based decision-making, budgeting, strategic planning, and financing, including:
- The Cosmology of Financing: Financing Reform of Family and Children’s Services: An Approach to the Systematic Consideration of Financing Options, Center for the Study of Social Policy, June, 1994.
- From Outcomes to Budgets: An Approach to Outcome (or Result) Based Budgeting™ for Family and Children’s Services, Center for the Study of Social Policy, July 1995
- Trading Outcome Accountability for Fund Flexibility: Negotiating New State Local Deals for Family and Children’s Service Dollars, Center for the Study of Social Policy, December, 1995.
- A Strategy Map for Results Based Budgeting™: Moving from Theory to Practice, The Finance Project, Washington D.C., September, 1996.
- A Guide to Developing and Using Performance Measures in Results-Based Budgeting™, The Finance Project, Washington, D.C., May, 1997.
- A Guide to Developing and Using Family and Children’s Budgets, The Finance Project, Washington, D.C., August, 1998.
- Reforming Finance, Financing Reform for Family and Children’s Services, The California Foundation Consortium, January, 2000
- Results Accountability for California Proposition 10 Commissions: A Planning Guide for Improving the Well-Being of Young Children and Their Families, UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities, March, 2000.
- The Results Based Accountability™ Implementation Guide, March, 2001
Many of his publications can be accessed through the website: resultsaccountability.com.
Ready to Achieve
Clear Impact?
Join the Clear Impact Movement: Subscribe to our monthly newsletter