A foundational step towards stronger data systems at CYC
Last week, Community Youth Center of San Francisco reached an important milestone in a multi-year effort to strengthen how we collect, manage, and learn from our data.
Working with partners at FormAssembly and Bright Systems, we built and tested our first integrated Salesforce Sandbox environment. This included an initial FormAssembly registration form that connects directly to Salesforce, creating a clearer, more consistent path from intake to data use.
Most importantly, we tested the system with our program staff and direct service teams, the people who collect information in real time, alongside youth and families, every day.
That testing surfaced insights we couldn’t have gained any other way. We saw how data collection actually functions in busy, in-person settings. We identified where friction slows staff down or creates barriers for families. And we learned how small design choices can either support clarity and dignity or unintentionally add burden.
While this milestone may sound technical or incremental, it represents something more substantial. Building functional, inclusive data systems requires close coordination across programs, operations, IT, evaluation, and frontline staff. Progress depends on shared learning, trust, and the willingness to test, adjust, and improve together.
This work matters because it reduces administrative duplication, strengthens data quality, and moves CYC toward true data ownership. It gives us greater agency over what we measure, how we measure it, and how data can support learning rather than simply meeting compliance requirements.
This milestone is one step in a longer, five-year plan to build an evaluation and learning system that is right-sized for CYC, grounded in equity, and designed to inform practice over time.
We’re grateful to our staff for their openness, insight, and willingness to engage critically in this process, and to our partners for meeting us where we are. This is how sustainable infrastructure gets built—thoughtfully, collaboratively, and with people at the center.