Roberts & Kay, Inc. -- Kettering Foundation

Kettering Foundation

The Charles F. Kettering Foundation, based in Dayton, Ohio is an operating foundation that works in a number of ways on this question: "What does it take to make democracy work as it should?" RKI has provided many different services for the Kettering Foundation over the years.

2000-2001

In support of the Kettering Foundation's United States – China Dialogue Project, Steve conducted focus group research on Americans' attitudes toward China and the Chinese people. The focus groups also aimed to determine the level of U.S. citizen interest in having input on governmental policies and actions related to China.

1993-1994

Rona assisted in designing and carrying out a year-long series of national workshops on community politics. Steve and Rona taught community groups affiliated with Kettering how to design, conduct, and analyze their own community-based focus groups.

1992-1993

Rona conducted research and designed tools and processes aimed at boosting citizens' capacities to address complex community problems. She conducted national tests of these products in diverse communities.

Rona also took a tool called The Community Checkup and worked with community groups in Mobile, Alabama; Evansville, Indiana; McKie, Kentucky; and Kalamazoo, Michigan to find out how to improve the tool and make it more useful to communities. Based on the suggestions of people in these four communities, Rona revised the community politics tool and prepared rationales and analyses for Kettering staff regarding the reasons for the changes and the approach of the new tool.

Spring, 1991

Rona conducted focus groups for the Kettering Foundation and analyzed opinions Americans hold about government. Rona conducted studies of citizens' abilities to build "civic capital" – people's capacity to make their communities what they want them to be.

Visit www.kettering.org for more information about these and other projects.

Be sure to check out other descriptions of our work in the area of community change and citizen engagement.