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Empowering San Francisco Families, One Generation at a Time
FACES is rewriting the story for families across San Francisco—ensuring that every child can thrive in a joyful learning environment, and every caregiver has the tools and support they need to build a better future.
With programs spanning early childhood education, youth enrichment, family wellness, and workforce development, FACES is a powerful example of what’s possible when whole families are supported to grow, learn, and succeed—together.
Founded: 2011
Location: San Francisco, CA
FACES began working with UpMetrics in 2023 as part of our Bay Area Cohort.
Mission
For every child to reach their unique potential within a safe and joyful learning environment and every family to access a network of support that promotes well-being, opportunity, and community.
Vision
Values
Community
Heart
Justice
Growth
Programs & Impact Approach
FACES creates safe, joyful spaces for early learning; supports kids’ growth through after-school and summer programs; and connects families to resources like wellness support and job training. It’s all part of their mission to build lasting opportunity and wellbeing for San Francisco families.
Early Childhood Development (Ages 0-5):
They offer safe, enriching environments for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, tailored to each child’s needs. Their programs foster creativity, hands-on exploration, and social-emotional learning, supporting working caregivers with flexible hours (8:30-5:30) over 240 days a year. In addition to centers in Bayview, Haight Ashbury, and Hayes Valley, they have nearly 40 home-based providers across the city preparing children for kindergarten and beyond.
After-School and Summer Enrichment (TK-6th grade):
BASECamp provides after-school and summer programs for TK-6th grade children in Bayview-Hunters Point, offering a safe space to improve academically, build friendships, and explore passions like art, music, sports, gardening, and cooking.
Family Support and Wellness:
They support caregivers with resources to strengthen their relationship with their children and access essential economic and emotional support for effective parenting.
Workforce Development:
This program helps adults build skills for the workforce through job training, coaching, digital literacy, and career support, fostering economic stability for individuals and communities.
Using Data & UpMetrics to Drive their Mission Forward
FACES is building a more connected, data-informed future—one that aligns their day-to-day work with their long-term vision for family well-being in San Francisco. With UpMetrics, they’ve gained not only a platform but also a strategic partner in impact measurement, helping them clarify, strengthen, and scale their mission.
From Disconnected Systems to a Unified Approach
Before partnering with UpMetrics, FACES relied on multiple data systems across programs, tracking participants and services in silos. In 2023–24, as part of a strategic priority to improve program quality, the organization set out to develop an annual outcome evaluation and learning cycle.
UpMetrics arrived at a pivotal time, providing a structured platform just as FACES was designing program-specific logic models and measurement tools. The partnership allowed them to align around shared goals and adopt the “Quality” and “Better Off” outcomes of the UpMetrics Impact Framework—creating a foundation for intentional, mission-aligned measurement.
Clarifying What Matters Most
In the first year of implementation, FACES used UpMetrics to sharpen its focus on the data that truly reflects its work. Their new program frameworks helped surface key learning questions and identify metrics that go beyond activity tracking to capture real change.
UpMetrics is now powering a range of data efforts at FACES—from internal dashboards that guide staff learning, to external-facing materials that support fundraising and share impact with key stakeholders.
Measuring Impact Across Programs
FACES is especially excited about how the platform is helping them understand the intersection between programs through their 2-Generation (2Gen) approach. Rather than looking at services in isolation, they’re now able to explore how families experience multiple supports—like early childhood education, wellness resources, and workforce development—and how these intersect to drive stronger, whole-family outcomes.
Expanding the Lens: Community Contribution
One of the most meaningful shifts has been the introduction of the “Community Contribution” dimension into their Impact Framework, a new lens for FACES. This dimension helps them contextualize their work within the broader San Francisco ecosystem—showing not just their impact on individuals and families, but their contribution to systems-level change in areas like child development, economic mobility, and family wellness.
Turning Insight into Impact
With better data comes better questions—and for FACES, that’s where transformation begins. Insights from their new impact frameworks are already prompting deeper reflection, smarter strategies, and more equitable outcomes.
Spotting Gaps, Asking Better Questions
A striking example emerged through their Child Development Impact Framework: one site reported that just 3% of enrolled students had an Individual Education Plan (IEP), while another site reported 18%. That discrepancy raised red flags.
Instead of accepting it at face value, the FACES team used the data to dig deeper—exploring how staffing structures and vacancies may impacted service delivery and their ability to assess, identify, and refer students to inclusion services at the district level.
Building Dashboards for Clarity and Accountability
Now, FACES is working to make these types of insights more accessible and repeatable. They’re building out dashboards that visualize key performance indicators across three dimensions: Who they serve, What services are provided, and the Quality of those services.
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Internal dashboards will guide staff learning and continuous improvement.
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External dashboards will bring transparency to stakeholders like their Board and funders.
Over the next year, they plan to expand these dashboards with “Better Off” outcome data—adding richer context around the long-term difference their programs are making.
A Whole-Family Lens on Impact
As their 2-Generation (2Gen) model continues to evolve, FACES is also asking more holistic questions: What does it look like to measure family-level change? What data can capture the ripple effects when a parent lands a new job, a child succeeds in school, and the household becomes more stable?
With UpMetrics, they’re not just collecting data—they’re building the infrastructure to understand, learn from, and scale what works. It’s all part of their commitment to delivering on their mission in deeper, more connected ways.
Advice for Teams Looking to Improve Impact Measurement:
"Start where you are, and use the framework as a tool to grow. Even in Year 1, you’re already collecting useful data. Use UpMetrics to assess your current systems and the stories your data is telling. Look for gaps—where questions remain or evidence is missing to show the quality of your services or who’s better off. Remember, focusing on just 2–3 intentional, meaningful objectives can be more powerful than trying to measure everything at once.”
- Laura Preuss, Evaluation & Learning Manager
