Mission of the FrameWorks Institute
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.
