Knology

What Knology does

Knology is a US-based non-profit social science research organization founded in 2012 and headquartered in New York, operating with 11-50 employees. It conducts practical, mixed-methods research spanning learning sciences, anthropology, psychology, and the humanities, serving libraries, museums, schools, media organizations, and community groups across the United States. Its service portfolio is organized around three core offerings: (1) Research Services producing evidence-based insights through interviews, focus groups, national surveys, and literature reviews; (2) Partner-Centered Evaluation, an evaluative methodology that positions evaluation as a tool for organizational learning and co-creation rather than donor accountability; and (3) Learning Workshops, fee-for-service training sessions on topics such as Logic Models, Survey Design, and Evaluation 101. The organization also serves as the editorial office for Curator: The Museum Journal (Wiley), the museum field's most widely circulated scholarly publication.

Knology's revenue model is a hybrid of federal and foundation grant funding, fee-for-service workshop revenue, and individual donations. Named grantors include NSF, NIH, IMLS, DoE, USDA, FINRA Foundation, NY Life Foundation, and Estée Lauder Foundation. The organization holds Federal Wide Assurance #00021378 and operates under federally registered IRB oversight, with its Board having formally adopted the ethics codes of the American Evaluation Association, APA, and AAA. Distribution is relationship-driven through professional associations and academic networks, with go-to-market executed via direct outreach, website contact forms, and presentations at professional conferences (ALA, ACRL, NSF forums). Long-term anchor partnerships include the American Library Association (Libraries Transforming Communities), Association of Children's Museums (Building Resilience Together), PBS NewsHour (Experiments in Transmedia), and Children's National Research Institute (Science Journeys).

In January 2026, Joanna Laursen Brucker was appointed permanent CEO after serving as Interim CEO since May 2025 and COO for the prior eight years. The organization has expanded into adjacent verticals including humanitarian programming (Kiron, displaced persons) and environmental education (Finca Cárntaros), while maintaining 24 publications in 2025 alone across its grant-funded portfolio.

Name

Knology

Legal name

Knology

Website

https://knology.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Knology is a US non-profit social science research organization that provides mixed-methods research, partner-centered evaluation, and capacity-building workshops to libraries, museums, schools, media organizations, and community groups, funded primarily by federal grants and private foundations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Science Research and Evaluation Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720), Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Interdisciplinary & Multidisciplinary Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Social Sciences Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAD), Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK), Education Research & Pedagogy Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAH)

Keywords

• Social science research
• Program evaluation services
• Capacity building workshops
• Nonprofit research organization
• Mixed methods research

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: Knology receives grant funding from federal agencies including NSF (National Science Foundation), NIH (National Institutes of Health), IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services), USDA, FINRA Foundation, and private foundations including NY Life Foundation and Estée Lauder Foundation.
2. Learning Workshops: Fee-for-service workshops on topics including Logic Models, Survey Design, Evaluation 101, and other capacity building topics. Pricing and scheduling discussed via direct email contact after initial inquiry form submission.
3. Donations: The organization accepts donations from individuals and organizations to support research that has real-world impact.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Knology conducts collaborative social science research, program evaluation, and capacity-building services for libraries, museums, schools, media organizations, and community groups. Its deliverables include research reports, logic models and theories of change, survey design and analysis, peer-reviewed publications, on-demand Learning Workshops, and editorial management of the academic journal Curator: The Museum Journal. Services are typically delivered through grant-funded partnerships with federal agencies and foundations, supplemented by fee-based workshops and individual donations.

Product overview

Knology offers a portfolio of social science research and evaluation services organized around three core offerings: (1) Learning Workshops — on-demand training sessions covering logic models, evaluation planning, survey design, and specialized topics like climate change communication; (2) Partner-Centered Evaluation — evaluation services focused on organizational learning and capacity building; and (3) Research Services — practical social science research conducted collaboratively with museums, libraries, schools, media organizations, and community groups. Knology also serves as the editorial office for Curator: The Museum Journal, an academic publication for the museum field.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Learning Workshops On-demand training sessions led by Knology researchers, educators, and writers that connect professionals with practical information and skills. Offerings include Logic Models, Using Logic Models to Develop an Evaluation Plan, Tools to Assess Capacity, Gap Analysis, Survey Design, Evaluation 101, Social Science Writing, How to Talk to Non-Specialists about Research, What the Social Science Says, and The Emotions of Climate Change workshops.
• Partner-Centered Evaluation Evaluation services that prioritize organizational learning over donor accountability. Knology begins by understanding what partners want to achieve, facilitates workshops to clarify program goals, and serves as 'critical friends' to help organizations improve practices and advance their missions.
• Research Services Practical social science research conducted in collaboration with partners across museums, libraries, schools, media organizations, and community groups. Delivers evidence-based insights and tools through mixed-methods approaches including interviews, focus groups, national surveys, and literature reviews.
• Library and Library Organization Collaboration Collaborative partnerships with libraries and library organizations addressing questions about community engagement, accessibility, program development, and strategic planning through research, evaluation, and capacity-building programs.
• Curator: The Museum Journal Peer-reviewed scholarly publication for the museum field, with Knology serving as the editorial office. Initiatives include publishing papers in authors' first languages and the Writing Scholars Workshop for emerging museum professionals.

Quantifiable outcome

• Established new journalistic standards for presenting data to the public with PBS NewsHour
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core, emerging and supporting.

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2022Co-facilitated workshops to develop A Proposed Climate Empowerment Theory of Change for the United States, its territories, and sovereign nations.
• American Library Association (ALA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term partnership on Libraries Transforming Communities project. Knology serves as evaluator, publishing case studies describing the impact of libraries' accessibility efforts and peer-reviewed research advancing knowledge in Library and Information Sciences.
• Association of Children's MuseumscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership providing data-informed insights on emerging trends through fieldwide datasets and impact reports. Collaboration on Building Resilience Together project focusing on bereaved children.
• PBS NewsHourcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFour-year partnership (Experiments in Transmedia study) evaluating informal STEM education and publishing academic research on STEM storytelling. Funded by NSF Award #1516347.
• Children's National Research InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing evaluation partnership for Science Journeys program providing STEM educational opportunities for hospitalized children. Includes literature review and program evaluation.
• TERC (Educational Gaming Environments Group)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCodePlay research-practice partnership focused on Computational Thinking in K-8 classrooms. Knology serves as external evaluator. Funded by NSF grant #DRL-1738574.
• Braintree Public SchoolsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCodePlay partnership partner working with TERC on Computational Thinking education research. Knology evaluates overall project progress and partnership effectiveness.
• KironemergingStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal education provider for displaced persons. Partnership on 'My Stronger Self' project providing digital intervention for displaced persons ages 16+ with workforce skills and psychosocial support.
• Meridian StoriesemergingStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization using media training tools to help learners develop 21st century skills. Partner on 'My Stronger Self' project for displaced persons.
• Santa Cruz Public LibrarysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerBuilding evaluation capacity through workshops that help measure and expand the impact of public programs.
• Clark Art InstitutesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerTraining for data collection as part of capacity building initiatives.
• Center for Brooklyn HistorysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerTraining for data collection as part of capacity building initiatives.
• Finca Cántaros Environmental AssociationsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerEstablishing roots and growing community capacity building through partnership on environmental education.
• Curator: The Museum Journal (Wiley)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKnology serves as editorial office for Curator journal, the museum field's most widely circulated scholarly publication. Committed to inclusive publishing including papers in authors' first languages.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• RTI International: RTI International is an independent research institute that delivers science-based research and evaluation services across education, health, and social policy. It frequently competes with smaller social-science research firms on federal solicitations similar to those Knology pursues.
• RAND Corporation: RAND is a large, established policy research organization that conducts social science research and evaluation for government and foundation sponsors. It overlaps with Knology on federally funded social science and education research but at much greater scale and topical breadth.
• American Institutes for Research (AIR): AIR is a large non-profit that conducts behavioral and social science research and evaluation for federal, state, and local clients. It competes with Knology on federal evaluation work but operates at significantly greater scale and broader topical scope.

Direct peers

• Harder+Company Community Research: Harder+Company is a social research and evaluation firm that works with foundations, nonprofits, and public agencies on social impact measurement. Its size, mission focus, and partner-centered consulting practice are closely comparable to Knology's offerings.
• Education Development Center (EDC): EDC is a global non-profit that designs, delivers, and evaluates programs in education, health, and economic opportunity. Its blended research/evaluation/capacity-building model, federal funding base, and partnerships with museums, libraries, and schools make it a close parallel to Knology.
• WestEd: WestEd is a non-profit research, development, and service agency that conducts education and social science research and evaluation for schools, agencies, and foundations. Its funding mix, federal-grant orientation, and emphasis on evaluation capacity mirror Knology's core model.
• Equal Measure: Equal Measure is a nonprofit that provides evaluation, research, and strategic learning services to philanthropy and the social sector. Its mission orientation and partner-centered evaluation practice make it a comparable smaller-scale peer to Knology.
• TCC Group: TCC Group is a consulting firm that provides evaluation, strategy, and capacity-building services to nonprofits, foundations, and associations. Its emphasis on organizational learning and evaluation partnerships makes it a direct comparison to Knology's Partner-Centered Evaluation approach.
• NORC at the University of Chicago: NORC is an independent research institution that conducts social science research and program evaluation for government and nonprofit clients. Its mixed-methods approach and social-science focus align with Knology's research services.

Others

• American Evaluation Association: AEA is the professional association for evaluators, whose code of ethics Knology's Board has formally adopted. It is an ecosystem participant — not a competitor — but its membership and conferences shape the buyer base and standards that Knology's evaluation services operate within.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/KnologyResearch

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Knology