Liberty Hill and PDG: Visualizing Justice through Data

Liberty Hill Client Story PDG Consulting

Liberty Hill has a clear mandate: The organization “will not rest until society provides justice and equality for all.”

The road to social equity, however, can be fraught with potholes, detours, and dead-ends. Changing the momentum of established processes requires Herculean effort paired with unwavering commitment — and the right technology helps too.

This is the intersection of Liberty Hill and PDG Consulting. Driven by the civil unrest seen in early 2020 including the murder of George Floyd, PDG’s leadership team knew the company needed to do something to make a difference but didn’t know where to start so they reached out to Liberty Hill, connected over an info session, and the company made a donation.

But it wasn’t enough. PDG wanted to do more. “We as a firm are very passionate about causes,” said T. Kurera, VP of People and Culture. “We found Liberty Hill, provided a donation, and then asked what more can we do to help through the donation of our time and expertise.” The answer? An in-depth dashboard visualization project.


The Challenge: Reducing Youth Incarceration

The Solution: Telling the Data Story with Purpose-Built Tools

The Results: Writing a New Narrative for LA Youth

What's Next? Creating the Liberation Fund

As noted by Lisa Small, Director of Youth and Transformative Justice at Liberty Hill, PDG is also helping the organization take on new projects. “PDG is supporting us in creating the Liberation Fund by providing essential data and analysis through visualization tools that bring into focus the disparity faced by girls of color and gender expansive youth,” said Small.

The Liberation Fund will provide the opportunity and funding for community-based organizations who center the unique experiences of girls and GE youth to co-create strategies that meet these young people where they are while simultaneously addressing the system failures and practices that harm them.

By pursuing girls and GE liberation, this work will strive toward community-led solutions that achieve self-determination and agency outside of system involvement, freedom from violence, and access to education, economic, housing, and wellness resources while providing the conditions for girls, and GE youth to live with dignity.

Small noted that early analysis has already yielded interesting results. “Part of what came to the surface was that in this population, if you’re underage and you can’t consent, you can’t be arrested for sex work, but girls as young as 18 and 19 who we know are still developing into adults are being arrested as perpetrators when in reality they are survivors and should be treated as such.”

Data visualization is helping Liberty Hill pinpoint the data needed to tell this story and fuel campaigns that aim to end the practice of arresting and incarcerating youth and putting in its place investments in youth development and community safety.

Liberty Hill and PDG: Partners in Progress

PDG is committed to working with Liberty Hill for the long haul. The company recognizes that social justice doesn’t happen overnight and wants to provide Liberty Hill with the tools, technology, and expertise needed to make a difference and change the landscape of youth incarceration and unjust persecution in LA.

A recent statement from Liberty Hill makes it clear that the feeling is mutual. “We are so appreciative of the incredible work PDG did on the data visualization project and we’re excited for the many ways it will impact our youth justice work. We will absolutely have client success stories for you in the future, as the Dashboard illuminates such important data that will inform the social justice work of Liberty Hill and our community partners for years to come.”

Put simply? Social justice and equality don’t happen instantaneously. They require the tireless work of dedicated individuals. Progress can be bolstered, however, when organizations have the tools and technology they need to capture relevant data and tell the real story.

Need help with a data visualization or data analytics project? Contact us for help today.