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ERI’s 2025 Highlights

December 10, 2025

December 2025

Friends,

Writing my customary end-of-year reflection has never felt more daunting. 2025 felt both surreal and all too real: LA’s catastrophic wildfires, the terror wrought by ICE raids, the loss of movement heroes and dear friends, the steady and intentional erosion of truth and trust in democracy. There were far too many times when the pragmatic optimism I usually lean on eluded me. I can imagine many of you felt the same sense of disorientation and dismay.

But now we see that underneath the chaos, a clear pattern emerges. Data sources and expertise become a target because they expose inequities. Voting is disrupted because it expands participation and inclusion. DEI is disparaged because it forces us to confront systems where some have been left behind and kept behind.

The scale and scope of these attacks is not random; they’re the surest sign that a strong multiracial democracy threatens those who fear its promise. And they remind us that we must be the ones to make that promise real by offering a vision of a better world and having a steely view of the obstacles in the way.

So the work ahead isn’t to shout louder into the noise; it’s to fine-tune the signals. We need fewer isolated facts, and more connected stories; less polemics and more listening; less polarization and more mutuality that rebuilds shared understanding for forward-looking solutions.

And that kind of movement and relational work requires real, grounded hope—not performative positivity, but the kind that inspires and guides us to act meaningfully together at a sustainable pace even amidst so much uncertainty, the kind that allows us to embrace complexity and still move in unity.

Sometimes this work is bold, out front, and visible. Sometimes it’s quiet, steady, and focused on keeping the essential things intact. Both matter, and both take people power.

So we at the Equity Research Institute (ERI) offer our deep gratitude and respect to all of you—the organizers, researchers, partners, movement allies, and supporters who show up every day to make a multiracial democracy a reality, not just an ideal. We thank you for all the ways, large and small, you’ve impacted our work this year. And as always, we at ERI strive to be of service and in solidarity by producing high-quality, rigorous data that resonates with communities.

Rest, reconnect, and recharge. Hug those you love, embrace those long in the struggle for justice, and extend a warm welcome to those who are just showing up. And come January, let’s try to practice grounded hope as a day-to-day discipline of truth-telling, community care, and acting with courage together.

Warmest holidays,
Manuel and the ERI Team

Please stay tuned for more insights and impacts from the year in ERI’s 2025 Interactive Annual Report, coming in early 2026!

In the meantime, below are a few highlights from our work in 2025:

 

Featured Data Tools


2025 Publications


2025 Events and Webinars

 

Collaborative Research & Field Building 

 

Media – Digital and Broadcast

 

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