If your year has been anything like ours, you’ve spent ample time regularly checking the latest facts and figures in the news — COVID-19 case numbers, deaths, vaccination rates, school and business closings, employment data, and on, and on. It’s information overload even for us self-proclaimed data nerds.
Don’t get us wrong — data is what we do. But when the human experience is boiled down to statistics, the true impact on people can get lost in a thicket of numbers. We value research and analysis because they help us discover trends that lead to actionable results, and actionable results are kind of our thing.
But if we have taken away anything from this year of data excess, it’s to not lose sight of the real-life outcomes woven through the lines on a chart. Each data point that fills up columns in a spreadsheet represents a person, a group of people, or a community. What we show up to do every day makes lived experience better because we investigated the numbers — and gave them a pulse.
This year our clients looked to us to be their partner, their collaborator, and their strategic resource. We brought our collective skills to bear on policy issues like energy equity, water affordability, public health, and the American Rescue Plan Act.
reports researched, drafted, edited and published
different clients worked with us on 99 distinct projects drawing from our full range of consulting services
client presentations delivered
surveys designed, executed and analyzed
strategic plans facilitated
states and partners in Canada benefited from PSC research and consulting
Top Three Listens: “Lost in the Light” by Bahamas, “Brene with Adam Grant on the Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know,” from the “Dare to Lead” podcast, and “My Own Words, Ruth Bader Ginsberg” with Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams
Best Read of the Year: “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott
Favorite PSC Moment:
PSCers enjoy the creative problem‐solving process, and helping clients achieve their goals. One thing you can count on when you work with PSC is that you have an extension of your team focused on getting results, not just reports.
pages of content written and reviewed
projects went through our editing and production process
proposals submitted
conferences and workshops presenting our findings and subject matter expertise on public policy issues
Michigan-based organizations and programs dedicated to lifting up people in need, educating practitioners and advocates, and assisting underserved populations were sponsored or supported through the firm and its people
websites developed, redesigned and refreshed inhouse — including our own
videos produced from scratch, complete with conducting interviews, managing postproduction and publishing across digital formats
awards or certifications — Crain’s Cool Places to Work, Detroit Free Press Top Workplaces, Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year, Women’s Business Enterprise and Women-Owned Small Business
Top Three Listens: “Positive Intelligence” by Shirzad Chamine, “Emotional Agility” by Susan David, and “Renegades: Born in the USA” by Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen
Best Read of the Year: “Why We’re Polarized” by Ezra Klein
Favorite PSC Moment:
While this year has made us feel at times like we were living 2020 on repeat, together we made progress. One of the things we do well is partner with people and organizations who want to make lasting change and create the greatest good. We are more than a firm that conducts rigorous research and data analytics, though we have those skills in spades. We are people who care about other people. Our work translates raw data to help clients see the needs of people more clearly and hear the truth in the human experience.
of clients agree that PSC is a valuable partner
of clients agree that PSC provides them with actionable information
The numbers we’ve shared as a recap of our year represent a small dataset of a much larger effort working alongside our clients to solve real-world problems like the critical need for water infrastructure improvements, communicating vaccine availability to underserved communities, helping counties and regions get maximum benefits from their American Rescue Plan funds, collecting and analyzing national food hub data to scale up local food systems, and much more. PSCers bring a fresh perspective, mutual trust, and infectious energy to every project. We’re bringing that same force into 2022, ready to work alongside our clients as one team with a shared aim to develop and implement actionable public policies across Michigan and beyond.
