Hidden Gems: Meet Jessica Payne of Mockingbird Analytics

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Payne

Hi JESSICA, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started Mockingbird Analytics after about a decade working in research and evaluation for nonprofit and government entities. Evaluation is an important tool for storytelling that touches on how we do social justice work effectively, how we fundraise to support that work, and advocate for policies that support communities. However, it’s not a position that is often accessible to smaller organizations (who are often doing some of the best, most innovative work). So Mockingbird was founded to do that on a project or fractional basis. Our work has expanded significantly to including grantwriting, which is often what you DO with evaluation work, and more policy and thought leadership work. We also founded Mockingbird Incubator, a nonprofit that teaches emerging organizations the administrative infrastructure of running a 501c3 as well as provides extended incubation through fiscal sponsorship of projects just getting off the ground.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Creating a new business and a side by side nonprofit has definitely not been smooth. I had to learn everything from the ground up about running a for-profit business. However, I think having significant experience with the social justice sector has made growing the business side of our work one of my most satisfying and creative acts. I can try out new policies and progressive leadership that is uncommon in the for-profit world and is grounded in many of the values from my time in nonprofits. Figuring out how to structure collective decision-making and functioning as a collaborative rather than as the more common hierarchical models has been one thing we’ve been wrestling with in the last couple of years. There are not a ton of examples out there to follow yet, but we’ve been really inspired by a lot of the work coming out of labor organizing and the principles of emergent strategy.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Mockingbird Analytics?
We specialize in research and evaluation with a particular emphasis evaluating and validating some of the more radical methodologies, services, and programs being developed in the social justice movement space right now. For example in the past year, we’ve had the privilege and honor of working with clients doing feminist harm reduction, working as the fund analyst to figure out how reparations can be funded through a city budget, and how migrant workers access tax filing services after policy changes in the state of California.

Another project our team is incredibly proud of is our work helping to form one of the first drag performers unions in the country. Making sure that artists and people from marginalized communities have access to the same protections as other workers is the through line in our values as a collaborative. What has set us apart from other firms has been how we lead with our values first and will always take on projects that we believe in personally, and identify with as scholar-activists.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Get good contracts! And a good employment attorney! California is a complicated state to do business in for a lot of reasons (many of which are about advancing equity to workers, which is a good thing, but can make it hard to navigate). Don’t be afraid to call up the EDD, Registry of Charitable Trusts, the IRS, or any agency that you’re working with administratively. There’s a lot of grace in asking for assistance as a small business. Also, don’t be afraid to make your values clear. We work with the clients we align with because we are clear about the work we are interested in doing and who we are.

Contact Info:

• Website: www,mockingbirdanalytics.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mockingbirdanalytics/