The Center for Social Innovation at UC Riverside will provide nonprofit organizations tools to thrive in the midst of challenges presented by COVID-19.  The DNA: Data Narrative Action program will provide Riverside County nonprofit professionals with resources and tools that elevate their work and cultivate their leadership potential. This proposal is built upon the successful Social Innovation Institute our center facilitated for nonprofit partners in 2018, and three consecutive years of our IE Nonprofit Fellowship program. The goal of the DNA Program is to identify and support bold, emerging leaders in the Inland Empire’s nonprofit sector as they seek to pivot and advance their work in the midst of a global pandemic. Through the power of peer support, networks, and cutting-edge skills, this program will provide participants with a place to foster engagement and innovation.

The DNA Program focuses on three major components: 
     1. Data and Research (Policy Intelligence, Market Intelligence, Community Resources)
     2. Narrative Change (Framing, Messaging, Storytelling)
     3. Action (Civic Engagement, Strategic Planning, Enterprise). 
These three components move the discussion from traditional capacity-building approaches to transformative tools and strategies for the nonprofit sector in the Inland Empire.