About Us
We’re a research and design lab for the social sector, working to transform child welfare. Led and guided by people who have been directly impacted by this system, we are a trusted partner across the national child welfare field. We work with government agencies, lawmakers, providers, advocates, and foundations to drive novel, scalable solutions at the federal, state, and local levels.
Our work is led and shaped by people with lived experience in child welfare. Decades of efforts to reform this inequitable system have failed because these most crucial voices were overlooked by decision makers.
We look system-wide to identify opportunities for the greatest impact. Alongside lived experts, we engage across the ecosystem – from Federal policymakers to front-line workers and everyone in between – to create and co-implement novel, scalable solutions.
We work to ensure that leaders in child welfare have access to data and evidence that reflects the “on-the-ground” reality of those impacted by the system and to create mechanisms for impacted youth and families to influence practices and policies. When this process happens continuously, we create proximity at scale.
Founded by former foster youth and driven by a commitment to centering lived experience, Think of Us has evolved from a technology nonprofit in 2016 into a research and design lab, taking a novel approach to driving widespread change.
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Our work is informed by a set of core values that guide how we show up for one another, collaborate with partners, and approach everything we do.
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Just as we are focused on shifting power structures in child welfare, we hold the same commitment to equity and distributed power throughout our team culture. This informs who we hire and how we work.
