In September 2000, after eleven years as a research and evaluation consultant, Steven LaFrance launched LaFrance Associates, LLC (LFA).

Steven started LFA Group as a venue to help organizations in the nonprofit, public, and philanthropic sectors attain the information, tools, and resources they require to fulfill their missions, and achieve social justice. Over the course of nearly ten years, LFA Group has worked with hundreds of organizations and colleagues united by the common purpose of creating a more just, healthy and sustainable world. We are extremely grateful for all that our clients and colleagues have accomplished, as well as for what they have contributed to our own learning and growth.

In 2009, LaFrance Associates, LLC became LFA Group:Learning for Action.

Our team has become so diverse and talented in our wisdom and capacity that LaFrance Associates was no longer an appropriate name for our organization. Thus, in 2009, we became LFA Group: Learning for Action. “Learning for Action” means that we provide actionable, data-driven recommendations based on rigorous research that also is grounded in a community perspective to catalyze social change. Our core services—research, strategy development, and evaluation—work in concert. They ensure that architects, implementers, and leaders of social change efforts have the data they need to guide decisions and take action that will maximize effectiveness and impact.

We have a richly diverse team in personal experience, professional training, and content expertise.

The LFA Group team brings remarkably diverse expertise in terms of relevant personal experience, academic training (including anthropology, sociology, public policy, public health, public administration, social welfare, and education) and professional experience in social sector content areas (including early childhood education, K-12 education, environmental education, youth development, HIV/AIDS, health inequities, housing and homelessness, and older adult health and civic engagement). LFA Group also remains an internationally recognized leader in organizational capacity building and effectiveness.

We changed our name to acknowledge the value that our full team brings to our work. LFA Group has a progressive, consensus-seeking, participatory company management philosophy as well as a team-based project model. Each member of LFA Group is seen as an equal contributor in the direction and success of the company. Indeed, the uniquely consistent high quality of LFA Group’s work is a direct reflection of how well our combined strength and experience work together to synergistic effect.