About Us

Inluminare [in-loo-min-ah-rey] was born from a desire to bridge scientific research and real-world need. We bring that passion into everything we do.

The questions that inspires us

How do we know how effective a nonprofit’s program is?

The most common approach to understanding program effectiveness is to review what was accomplished and how much was spent. In logic model terms, what outcomes did we get for the outputs produced from the inputs we used?

This understanding of how inputs lead to outputs and broader outcomes is central to how we monitor and evaluate all kinds of programs. Inputs, or “how much was spent” of the resources available to a nonprofit, directly relates to what is able to be accomplished, how well, and so much more.

Understanding the resources used to deliver programs shapes strategic planning by informing how we choose to deliver those programs again – or modify them to be more effective and help more people. Understanding resources is also a key part of financial management:

• How much did we spend?
• Where could we have saved?
• What can we do to secure critical resources in the future – should we pay for them out of pocket or fundraise?

These questions and so many more can only be answered partially, because right now, the data we have available to inform their answers is hidden, lost, or too hard to gather. This is where Inluminare comes in.

How we define resources

To understand what is essential for a program’s sustainability, longevity, and scalability, we need to analyze the resources that it uses.

At Inluminare, we see resources as the inputs used by an organization to produce. Our definition is that a resource is an asset controlled by a firm: everything that an organization controls and uses in the process of delivering some kind of desired output. This includes physical items and buildings, employee knowledge and skills, and how your organization is set up to be successful. Precision is key: specific skillsets over job titles, brand names and model numbers over “just an oven.” Our custom approach to thinking through financial and non-financial value allows us to tease apart which resources were most important for your success and which could be replaced to improve your outputs. To learn more, visit our guide to resources and logic models.

Bio

Francisco has worked with various kinds of nonprofits, from hospitals to community theaters, each with their own unique challenges and goals. He first began working with them as an implementation consultant with Epic Systems and later while a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, supporting federal government financial monitoring and supports.
As his interest in the intersection of social programs and financial management grew, he pursued an MPA at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and later a PhD at the Evans School at University of Washington.

Throughout his graduate studies, he worked on issues faced by U.S. nonprofits and NGOs abroad. In addition to exploring how COVID-19 affected relationships between foundations and nonprofit grantees, he worked on projects in the following areas:

• Big data. Contributed to pioneering efforts to make IRS nonprofit datasets usable for the public, established research and machine learning standards in response to these datasets, and challenged assumptions of how to measure nonprofit performance.
• Creating nonprofits. Researched how community political beliefs of communities affects the nonprofits created and identified relationships between gentrification and starting nonprofit.
• International Development. Worked on cost-benefit analyses of NGO programs and explored implications of impact evaluation requirements for NGOs.

He is also an active member of ARNOVA and participates in numerous other conferences, associations, and research affiliations. He currently works on a performance audit of special education practices in Washington State.

Through these research projects and opportunities, he saw a need to make this knowledge available to people beyond academia, and to make tools that were accessible not just for researchers. He launched Inluminare in May 2023 to develop these tools and ensure that what we study can serve society.

Please connect with us to learn more!