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​fostering equitable, sustainable futures ​​

Three3, Inc. (pronounced ThreeCubed) is a 501(c)3 research nonprofit located in Knoxville, TN with a mission to foster equitable and sustainable futures. The principle researchers and co-founders of Three3 conduct innovative social science research and facilitate stakeholder workshops on complex social issues. Three3 is connected to local, regional and national networks that aim to advance equity and resilience outcomes for lower-income households and populations. Three3 is also deeply embedded in community-driven initiatives that aim to advance transformative social outcomes for historically underserved individuals and populations. Specific skills:

  • Research methods
  • Survey design and implementation
  • Data harmonization and analysis​
  • Data visualization
  • Geospatial analysis (GIS) and Mapping
  • Creative data sharing and storytelling
  • Public policy and trends analyses
  • Network studies
  • Futures literacy programs
  • Stakeholder meetings on a range of topics including health and housing to more broad sustainability initiatives​​​
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Summer 2026 
​NSF AWARD for DFARM

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a competitive grant to Three3 and local partners in Knoxville, TN to continue working on DFARM: A Smart, Connected and Distributed Community Food Production and Distribution System. The project follows a planning grant – also funded by NSF – that focused on engaging the local food community to better understand food production and distribution needs while also showing the potential benefits of small hydroponic systems.

We are excited to kick-off the project with friends and partners at a local event in September 2026. Visit our DFARM tab for more!
Summer 2025 - Spring 2026
RWJF & Urban Institute's Local Data Grant


Three3 was excited to serve as the social science and data analysis experts on a rapid-fire initiative to collect local data on equity in food systems. Kimberly Pettigrew and the United Way of Greater Knoxville spearheaded a project that worked with five leaders from local food pantries and community-based organizations that work to increase work security. Together, we collected local data that can drive policy change and advocacy efforts for a more equitable food system.

​With the previous pause in SNAP benefits and likely cuts to SNAP looming, this work is preparing emergency food services to meet the new and increasing needs of our community. By combining our technical research experience with the expertise of those who are deeply embedded in providing free and accessible food every day, we are able to develop data collection methods that are rigorous and effective but - most importantly - respects participants' dignity and that reach people in authentic and approachable ways. 

Partners in this work included John Camp of Knox Pride; Jasmine Bryant and Shanae Southall of Women With Vision; Juanita Miller of Wesley House; Jaleria Rivera of SpaceCraft; Dr. Marsha Spence of the Department of Nutrition, University of Tennessee - Knoxville; and Kimberly Pettigrew and CJ Butcher of United Way of Greater Knoxville. This project is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in collaboration with the Urban Institute.

Click here for more information on our initial collaborative work with UWGK assessing Knoxville's food system. More information on an open data initiative incorporating this food system data, health equity portraits, and other major community data markers into an accessible resource for the Knoxville community will be provided in the near future!
Spring 2026 - Current
Xcel Energy: 3rd Party Evaluation of NSPM Electric Service Quality

Following an University of Minnesota study that found disparities in electricity disconnections and long-duration power outages between communities of people of color and other communities in the Minneapolis region, Xcel Energy hired Three3 in conjunction with Roger Colton with Fisher, Sheehan & Colton, and Professors Leon Tolbert and Fran Li from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, to explore reasons that could explain these disparities.

Our team is currently conducting interviews, convening focus groups, administering a survey to residents, and reviewing internal documents to collect data and information. We will use our findings to assess a half dozen general hypotheses and numerous related research questions exploring these disparities, before presenting a final report and recommendations to Xcel Energy later this year.

Spring 2024 - Current
A Community Co-Designed Weatherization and Microgrid Plan for
​Equitable Energy Security and Environmental Health 

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Harvard University, and Three3 partnered to win a grant from the Wellcome Trust. The project aims to provide climate mitigation solutions, i.e., community microgrids and weatherization with electrification for reducing energy burdens and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and improve physical and mental health for underserved communities, such as low-to-moderate income (LMI) households. Three3 is currently partnering with local nonprofit, Women With Vision, to engage residents in Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee through focus groups, stakeholder interviews, and surveys on a range of topics, including electrification, solar power and microgrids. Three3 is also conducting synthesizing analyses of previously collected indoor environmental quality sensor data to assess the IAQ benefits of electrification of low-income homes. We will then estimate the costs and benefits to weatherization programs and to changes in utility costs to low-income households of electrification and rooftop solar. Three3 will also estimate deaths preventable from the installation of weatherization and climate resilience measures in combination with home electrification.

Our Integrity Statement

The mission of Three3, Inc. remains rooted in the imperative to achieve equitable, sustainable futures. Our organization works to meaningfully establish racial equity and justice into the cross-sector research we conduct, in our facilitation of policy-making and program evaluation, and by applying a human rights-based framework to our work. In solidarity with Black Lives Matter, we strive to do better. We remain committed to donating our social science capabilities to under-funded local community initiatives for racial justice and parity, and for black dignity and freedoms. We remain ever vigilant in the monitoring and evaluation of both the benefits and burdens produced by current and historical policies, programs, and budgets enacted locally and across this country. As always, we remain truly grateful to black and brown community members across the South that have allowed us inside their homes for us to gather stories and struggles with energy affordability and housing quality. Your stories are gifts and we will continue to elevate and amplify your voices so that we might move toward a new social contract; one where Black Lives Matter.