2025 was a year of unprecedented challenges. Like many other non-profits, we’ve faced a number of existential threats over the last 12 months. With the loss of federal funding, the financial model that had long undergirded our work suddenly lost its viability. With the termination of federal grants, it became increasingly difficult to collaborate with some of our longtime partners. And with the explosion of AI-based technologies, we were confronted with new ways of conducting research — and new levels of uncertainty and risk.

Taken together, these developments forced us to question every aspect of our work — how we’re funded, how we do our research, and even why we exist. In every instance, our response was the same: to tackle challenges head on, and to stay true to ourselves.

When existing funding streams began to dry up, we cast our nets wider, cultivating relationships with a broader range of non-federal partners and laying a course toward a more financially sustainable future. Instead of simply reacting to the spread of Large Language Models (LLMs) and other AI-enabled tools, we dedicated ourselves to studying them — and to loudly negotiating for a place in conversations about their use. And when our core values came under attack, we recommitted ourselves to our foundational principles and reinvesting in partnerships aligned with our mission of creating practical social science for a better world.

As a result of these decisions, Knology has not only persevered, but grown into a stronger, more resilient organization. Powered by a simple refrain — “our work has never been more important than it is now” — in 2025, we doubled down and fought harder. At a time of cuts and curtailing, we recouped some of our losses, hiring new analysts and researchers to maintain our existing portfolio and lay a foundation for future growth. By strengthening our existing partnerships, we discovered new and better ways to empower organizations with knowledge and resources for serving their communities. And in the process of strengthening our resolve, we learned how to more effectively talk about our work, connect with our audiences, and advance the cause of practical social science.

As we close the books on 2025, we hope you’ll join us in celebrating all that our team and our partners have accomplished at a time of immense adversity and uncertainty. Together, we rose to the occasion, standing in solidarity with each other and working arm-in-arm to build a more compassionate, inclusive, just, equitable world.

In connection with that goal, our 2025 annual report offers a wealth of insights into how our work helped partners address critical problems, maximize their impacts, and build their organizational capacities. As a new year dawns, we move forward with a promise to continue empowering our partners with research-backed insights and tools that advance their missions. We hope the information shared here gives rise to new ideas for how we can collaboratively work toward this goal.

Joanna Laursen Brucker, Ed.M., CEO

Antoinette La Belle, D.M., Chair of the Board of Trustees

Cover photo courtesy of uchar @ iStockPhoto