theory of change
Bold Futures leads through five programming areas: policy change, research, place-based organizing, culture shift, and healing justice in New Mexico. These key pillars inform and support each other, allowing Bold Futures to move with authentic, community-centered leadership by and for women and people of color in our state.
Policy
Policy advocacy and education are critical to the mission and vision of Bold Futures. Through our policy efforts, Bold Futures positions New Mexican women and people of color in decision-making spaces, ensuring our families and communities are considered when it matters most. We engage those most affected by our issue areas in the development of solutions that will positively impact their realities.
“Our policy work begins and ends with the lived experiences and expertise of our staff and community leaders.”
Research
At Bold Futures, we lead research that respects the communities we come from, and works to capture and document what New Mexicans know and believe about our state’s pressing issues. We lead our own qualitative and quantitative research, often with collaborative partners in advocacy and academia.
There is growing acknowledgement in the scientific community that the highest-quality research must integrate both scientific rigor and lived experience so that knowledge production is based on the expertise of people with lived experience (who may or may not have prior experience with scientific research) and experienced researchers (who may or may not have lived experience in the subject area at hand).
Place-based organizing
For 25 years, community leaders have guided and helped inform our work. We create trusted spaces where community members nurture and strengthen their bonds to each other, heal individually and collectively, gather and develop information, ideas, concepts and projects that then serve to inform our broader work. From our tightly knit Touchstone Groups to volunteers and allies who join us for events, our community leaders are the heart of our organization.
“[We] will positively affect our own reality, and that of future generations”
culture shift
We uniquely incorporate the expertise of our community leaders who have firsthand experience in our issue areas, while resourcing talented Black, Indigenous, Latine, people of color and LGBTQ+ artists to envision and create pieces that share our stories, messaging, and information in culturally-relevant and captivating ways while simultaneously uplifting the other facets of our work.
For 25 years, Bold Futures has changed hearts and minds through our innovative art, media, and messaging work. Shaping narratives and sparking dialog about what our families need to thrive is often the first step towards larger systemic change. Through our in-house Art & Organizing Institutes, we collaborate with artists and community leaders to produce content that is rooted in what most resonates with our communities.
healing justice
Healing justice was first coined by the Atlanta-based Kindred Southern Healing Justice Collective in 2007 as a term and a set of practices that aim to address widespread generational trauma from systemic violence and oppression by reviving ancestral healing practices and building new, more inclusive ones.
Bold Futures is committed to engaging our staff and community leaders in the critical and continual practice of healing. Whether through guided meditation, traditional opening prayer, creating vision boards, sharing stories, or catching a sporting event, Bold Futures facilitates space and curates opportunities for joy, laughter, and belonging. Together, we are the medicine that will sustain us.
“Healing is an essential component to the long-term sustainability of our movement, our families, and ourselves.”
KEY ISSUE AREAS
Access to Reproductive Health Care: Improving access to reproductive health care people may need in their lives, including contraception and abortion
Birthing Justice: Increasing access women and people of color have to pregnancy related care, including licensed midwifery, doula care, and trauma-informed care for pregnant women and people with substance use disorders
Criminal Legal Reform: Leading a gendered approach to juvenile justice and criminal justice reform centering the needs of all people including women of color and the LGBTQ community
Supporting Young People: Building strength-based narratives and systems of support for young people, including young parents and their families