The Frameworks Institute
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The mission of the FrameWorks Institute is to advance the nonprofit sector's communications capacity by identifying, translating and modeling relevant scholarly research for framing the public discourse about social problems.

FrameWorks designs, commissions, manages and publishes communications research to prepare nonprofit organizations to expand their constituency base, to build public will, and to further public understanding of specific social issues. In addition to working closely with social policy experts familiar with the specific issue, its work is informed by a team of communications scholars and practitioners who are convened to discuss the research problem, and to work together in outlining potential strategies for advancing remedial policies.

FrameWorks also critiques, designs, conducts and evaluates communications campaigns on social issues. Its work is based on an approach called "strategic frame analysis," which has been developed in partnership with UCLA's Center for Communications and Community.

Susan Nall Bales established the FrameWorks Institute in 1999 and serves as its president. Funders of the Institute include: the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Advocacy Institute, Aspen Institute, W. T. Grant Foundation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Benton Foundation, National Funding Collaborative on Violence Prevention, Center for Communications and Community at UCLA, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Rockefeller Foundation, Caroline and Sigmund Schott Foundation, Washington Dental Service, and the National Institutes of Health.

FrameWorks research has been presented at the White House Conference on Teenagers, MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Pathways Through Middle Childhood, Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families Learning Circle on Constituency Building, National Academy of Science Board on Children, Youth and Families, Surgeon General's Conference on Children and Oral Health, the first joint meeting of the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors and American Association of Public Health Dentistry, the Ford Foundation, W. T. Grant Foundation, and numerous other forums.

Current projects focus on such issues as gender equity and school reform, leadership development, global warming, neighborhood transformation, global interdependence, positive youth development, children's oral health, and children's issues.

Find out what FrameWorks collaborators have to say about FrameWorks Institute’s impact on their work to elevate the public discourse on social problems:

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Our Sponsors

    A.L. Mailman Foundation
    Advocacy Institute
    Annie E. Casey Foundation
    Asia Society
    Aspen Institute
    Benton Foundation
    Brandeis University, Heller Graduate School for Social Policy and Management
    Bullitt Foundation
    CARE
    The California Endowment
    California Wellness Foundation
    Caroline and Sigmund Schott Foundation
    Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
    Center for Communications and Community, UCLA
    Climate Message Project
    Connecticut Public Broadcasting
    Council for Excellence in Government
    C. S. Mott Foundation
    David and Lucile Packard Foundation
    David T. Suzuki Foundation
    Demos
    Early Childhood Investment Corporation (MI)
    Endowment for Health
    Ford Foundation
    Forsyth Institute
    Foundation for Child Development
    Global Justice
    Harvard School of Public Health
    Health Care for All (MA)
    HNHfoundation
    InterAction
    JEHT Foundation
    John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
    Kansas Action for Children
    Lifetrack Resources
    Mary Black Foundation
    McCune Charitable Foundation
    Medical Care Development (ME)
    The Minnesota Out-of-School Time Partnership
    Mississippi State University
    National Funding Collaborative on Violence Prevention
    National Institutes of Health
    National Scientific Council on the Developing Child
    Natural Resources Defense Council
    The Oceans Conservancy
    OMG Center for Collaborative Learning
    Prevent Child Abuse America
    Rockefeller Brothers Fund
    Rockefeller Foundation
    Caroline and Sigmund Schott Foundation
    Sierra Club
    St. Luke's Health Initiatives
    Sunflower Foundation
    The Health Trust
    Turner Foundation
    UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities
    Union of Concerned Scientists
    United Nations Association - USA
    United Way of Massachusetts Bay
    Vermont Children's Forum
    Voices for South Carolina's Children
    Washington Dental Service Foundation
    W. K. Kellogg Foundation
    W. T. Grant Foundation

Our Board of Directors


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