In the weeks since becoming Knology's CEO, I've been spending a lot of time reflecting on my work with the organization. It's been ten years since I joined Knology. Ten years of facilitating dialogue between research and practice. Ten years of working with an incredible and bright team of researchers, and with our inspiring implementation partners. Ten years of witnessing real changes in practice as a direct result of Knology's research, evaluation, and capacity building efforts.

I came to Knology as a frustrated practitioner from the field. Having been part of amazing projects in the US, Denmark, Kosovo, and Ethiopia, I was both in awe of the social change we were able to accomplish and frustrated by the lack of conversation between research and practice. I found myself asking: could we strengthen that impact? What did theory have to say about the best way to solve a problem we were grappling with? Why didn't current recommendations consider our specific needs and experiences?

Whether you're a researcher, a practitioner, or someone who both studies and implements educational programs, versions of these questions likely resonate for you. Historically, many evidence-based teaching models position researchers as the experts, downplaying educators' knowledge and skills and forcing them to do the "translation" of scholarly findings into "research-informed practice."

Knology takes a different approach to closing the "research-to-practice gap": giving researchers and practitioners equal seats at the table. Knology was designed to create sustained dialogue between research and practice, grounding all work within practitioner contexts, and then ensuring joint meaning-making of findings. We work together with practitioners to brainstorm strategies for utilizing findings for direct and targeted change. By increasing communication between researchers and practitioners, we can connect their work in ways that lead to co-created knowledge and solutions.

But that's not all Knology does. As we use social science knowledge and tools to help partners maximize their impacts and advance their missions, we're also addressing the broader social challenges of our time - sparking collaborative efforts that make the world a better place.

In my 10 years at Knology, I've seen the organization do this time and time again. In response to the existential threat climate change poses to our planet, we've demonstrated how conservation and environmental education can help propel us toward a more sustainable future. Through research into how media organizations shape our understanding of the world, we've identified ways to amplify under-represented voices in public conversation and given journalists a guide to improving news users' statistical literacy. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, our examination of young people's experiences in and out of the classroom yielded a deeper understanding of how digital tools can support high quality learning. We've also tackled the demographic and socioeconomic challenges confronting rural America, uncovering practices that libraries and other organizations can utilize to make accessibility and disability inclusion a guiding principle of their work. And in response to the growing trust crisis rippling through many of the country's cultural institutions, we've developed a trust-building framework organizations can use both internally (among leaders and employees) and externally (with the publics they serve).

Many of the above examples speak to our nationwide impacts. Yet in addition to partnering with national-level associations, we also collaborate on a hyperlocal scale. As I reflect on my time at Knology thus far, these smaller projects are often the ones that stand out in my mind - whether it be a partnership with WNYC aimed at assessing knowledge transfers in Bronx bodegas, a collaboration with Toronto-based Myseum that inspired completely new ideas and structures for capturing visitor data, or workshops with the London-based Girl Effect team, which promoted understanding of how app usage can spur and track behavior change. Along with this, our capacity building workshops operate on an intensely local scale, helping specific libraries, cultural centers, and organizations figure out how to better engage their audiences through improved data collection practices.

So much has changed globally, nationally, and locally in the first month of 2026. As frightening as change can sometimes be, it's also a great opportunity to roll up our sleeves and use the power of research collaborations to continue to confront social issues head on. I am energized by the new ways Knology can partner with amazing organizations to solve the various problems we encounter this year and in the years to come. As we move forward, we remain committed to figuring out more impactful ways for people to learn and communities to grow. Please reach out and join our community, our conversation, and our shared learning practice.

Photo courtesy of Ivelin Radkov at iStock