32 | FRONTDOORS MAGAZINE Around 2007, the folks at CFA started thinking, ‘Maybe it’s not up to us to say what’s important to Arizonans. Maybe we should ask Arizonans what is important to them.’ That shift in thinking was powerful, and prompted CFA to partner with Gallup to conduct statewide surveys to better understand Arizonans’ priorities and values. The breadth of polling was impressive — and not cheap. Many organizations are interested in particular issues; CFA was interested in the full breadth. They conducted their first survey in 2009, with no idea what they would get. What they learned turned expectations on their head. “It was our first big aha moment that still informs us and drives us today, which is that Arizonans agree on much more than we disagree on the important issues,” Francis said. “We found so many areas of common agreement.” Healthy communities, rewarding jobs, high-quality education for all — these are a few of the aspirations Arizonans share for our state. Moreover, residents are committed to stewarding the state’s natural resources, and believe in equity and justice for all. Knowing our common interests, the next step was clear to the data-driven CFA: Share trusted data showing how Arizona is doing in those priority areas. Inspired by the belief A maverick optimist himself, Crow saw it as a chance to address the deficiencies he saw in higher education by designing a more egalitarian university. For her part, Francis was ready for a new view and a new challenge. “I grew up on the East Coast, but I love the openness here. People love newcomers — they like fresh blood, new ideas,” she said. Accordingly, when they came to Arizona, Francis was ready to dig in locally. And off the bat, she found the ideal ally in the man whose job her husband was taking over. Lattie Coor, who was stepping aside as president of ASU, had come up with an idea for a center focused on the future of Arizona. “He had taken out the legal paperwork, and I was thrilled because it was a way for me to bring my public policy background to an entire state to think about the future of the state. It was really exciting,” Francis said. One of their first exercises was to review 15 years of policy reports from various entities. They compiled the best thinking of Arizona leaders and boldly published it in The Arizona Republic as “A Vision for Arizona.” “Somehow, it fell a little bit flat. It didn’t naturally lead to anything,” Francis said. That’s when the idea of listening to Arizonans came in. Illustration by Terry Moody Francis’s family has embraced Arizona. She is shown here with daughter Alana at the Heard Museum ( above left ) and with husband Michael at Roden Crater ( right ).

that “what gets measured, gets done,” CFA created the Arizona Progress Meters. These web-based tools provide interactive data and downloadable charts on eight key common-interest areas — jobs, natural resources, education, infrastructure, young talent, civic participation, health & well-being, and connected communities — tracking how Arizona is doing on a state, county and local basis. As its name suggests, CFA’s work is focused squarely on the future, here. It has gained traction by finding and focusing on overlaps where people agree, bringing critical issues to public attention, and working with communities and leaders to solve public problems. But after a decade, Francis thought it would be wise to check back on some of the big issues to see if Arizonans’ priorities for the future had changed since the first survey was conducted in 2009. Again, they turned to Gallup. To ensure that they accurately represent Arizona, they collected more than 3,500 responses from all over the state. “We made sure that we can speak confidently with scientific validity about people of different political persuasions, race and ethnicity, income level, education, religion, LGBTQ and more,” Francis said. Healthy communities, rewarding jobs, high-quality education for all — these are a few of the aspirations Arizonans share for our state. FRONTDOORS MAGAZINE | 33 Francis with CFA’s Young Talent Advisors at the launch of the Arizona Young Talent Progress Meter in 2019.