It starts with a community of passionate people…
…linking arms to step into brokenness together
Mobilize Community
Empower Leaders
Develop New Strategies
The Contingent
Letter from Ben Sand, CEO
Dear Friends,
2022 was a transformational year for The Contingent. The stakes are too high to play it safe—thousands of children need strategic and caring foster care placements and talented students of color and underprivileged rural youth need opportunities to grow, as well as a pathway to leadership.
The Contingent develops initiatives that solve problems and are scalable. Our current initiatives, Every Child and The Script, create the opportunity for generational change and transformation. Through Every Child, we strive to raise and nurture new foster families, ensuring that every child impacted by foster care finds an ideal and loving home. The Script opens doors to a new world of possibilities for students of color and disadvantaged rural youth, opening a door to internships at top companies and empowering recent graduates for a future filled with success.
How do we do it? Through listening, centering and mobilizing community, and by forming powerful partnerships. Our values of radical hospitality and action drive our initiative solutions. Technology, Research, Community Experience and Marketing functions are woven together as the Community Collider, forming a powerful integration–one that sparks innovation to direct consistent performance improvement across initiatives.
2022 was the year The Contingent laid the groundwork to go national, and this year we launched Every Child in Arkansas and Indiana. We’re just getting started and we invite you to join us.
Ben Sand
What we’ve been up to…
We’ve been inspiring Oregonians to make a difference in Foster Care…
…Because Everybody Can Do Something
In 2022, Every Child Oregon utilized innovative technologies and marketing strategies to mobilize thousands of Oregonians to support the local child welfare system and inquire about becoming resource parents, especially from the BIPOC community. Every Child Oregon is continuously expanding and improving its model across the state by raising local leaders and engaging the community to care for children and families impacted by the child welfare system. These leaders proactively support families and kids impacted by foster care through time, resources, and services. Additionally, Every Child Oregon has initiated a resource parent mentorship program and expanded respite opportunities, such as Foster Parents’ Night Out (FPNO).
807
Foster or
adoption inquiries
2,000
Volunteers mobilized
2,073
Tangible needs met by the My NeighbOR program
“We do it for kids like Annie.”
The Contingent is driven by a heartfelt mission—mobilizing our community to make a difference. Our dedication stems from our deep commitment to children like Annie, who rely on the kindness of compassionate individuals to thrive. Not all of us can become foster families, but every single one of us can make a positive impact.
Our affiliate partner, Every Child Lane County, has exemplified innovation by establishing the Brighter Side Giving Store, which extends a helping hand to families and children affected by foster care. Every Child affiliate partners’ inspiring work is transforming lives throughout Oregon.
Together, we’re igniting a wave of positive change, and we extend an open invitation to all communities to join us. Let’s rally together and create a brighter future for every child.
Expanding our work nationwide by…
…Collaborating with community members in Arkansas
So much of the work in Arkansas in the last year was behind the scenes. It was a time of radical hospitality for The Contingent, as we listened, collaborated, and worked to serve amazing organizations in Arkansas who were already engaged in this work. The hard work paid off when The Contingent Arkansas and Every Child Arkansas launched in February 2023—and achieved statewide acclaim when government, non-profits, and other organization came together for our kick-off. The launch garnered media stories and interest in Arkansas, as more and more people started engaging with child welfare through Every Child Arkansas.
Check out the news coverage of this partnership.
576
Foster care inquiries received
55
Volunteers recruited
Writing a new narrative for future leaders in Oregon…
Introducing The Script
2022 was a year of vision and planning for the initiatives that were formerly known as Emerging Leaders Interns (ELI) and Survival Is Not Enough (SINE). As the success of both Emerging Leaders and SINE has grown, The Contingent knew it was time to expand and scale these solutions—with the audacious goal of closing the racial wealth gap and providing access to well-paying jobs, mentorship, and much more to those who have traditionally been left out. Additionally, we launched a pilot program in Southern Oregon to bring the Emerging Leaders model to BIPOC and low-income rural communities. With this growth, and acknowledging a desire to expand further, we spent 2022 imagining a new identity for future generations focused on authoring their own future—and in 2023, we launched The Script.
63%
First generation college students
95%
of companies received intern placements
Danny Del Cid
“What attracted me about ELI is their initiatives towards changing what the post-graduation world looks like for first generation students. Many first-generation students don’t have the resources, network, or experience to transition successfully from students to professionals. ELI fills in this gap by providing students paid internship experiences and access to a network of business professionals in the Portland metropolitan area. They provide equitable opportunities for disadvantaged students, giving them equal access as their counterparts with access to these things.”
Danny Del Cid, Emerging Leaders Participant in ’19 and ’22, recent graduate of the University of Oregon.
Driving Innovative Strategies through the Community Collider
The work of The Contingent isn’t guesswork. With a robust research and evaluation team working closely together with other functions, such as technology, customer experience, and marketing, The Contingent is constantly measuring, monitoring, and improving.
A few examples include analyzing the landscape of foster care needs to determine where the gaps are, both in numbers and the specific needs to ensure every child has an ideal placement. Our research team tracks the success of interns and the young professionals participating in The Script.
Community Collider is a four function team that mobilizes community members and empowers leaders with a unique efficacy. Above are links to some highlights of the four teams’ accomplishments.
Where are we going?
Goal 1
Launch Every Child Indiana
Goal 2
Expand The Script to reach mid-career and senior executives
Goal 3
Create data driven innovations to make our communities better
Ways to Get Involved
Volunteer
You don’t have to be a foster parent to make a difference for kids in care – check out ways you can give your time.
Mentor
By hosting a Script Intern, your company can help author new success stories for diverse leaders in our community.
Give
By giving a gift to The Contingent, you are helping change the system. One solution at a time.