Employment Equity A Key Theme at Atlanta’s Just Opportunity Summit

June 21, 2019: Just Opportunity Summit morning panel on leveraging and mitigating public incentives for economic inclusion. Credit: Kelly Jordan

If there were employment equity "More people with jobs will have enough money to spend in their communities, moving everyone up the socio-economic ladder" writes Nathaniel Smith, Founder and Chief Equity Officer of the Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE) in The Atlanta Voice. "The opportunities are going to those who have access to them — and that's disproportionately not the members of communities of color."

Referencing the report published by the National Equity Atlas in partnership with PSE, Smith states that "the Just Opportunity Summit is grounded in the belief of equity and hard data. According to the Employment Equity Report, 'achieving true 'full employment' across all racial and gender groups — bringing 384,000 more workers into employment — would add $2.4 billion in new state and local tax revenue annually'. The hypothesis is that the more people with jobs will have enough money to spend in their communities, moving everyone up the socio-economic ladder. The Just Opportunity Summit is aimed at making this into a reality, not just for Georgia, but throughout the American South." The same report also states that employment equity would lead to almost 115,000 fewer residents living in poverty; and more than $2.4 billion in additional tax revenue. 

Racial equity in employment, economic mobility, and wealth were key themes of the inaugural Just Opportunity Summit held June 20-21 at Morehouse College hosted by PSE and the Just Opportunity Circle. Partnership for Southern Equity is a nonprofit advocacy organization that advances policies and institutional actions that promote racial equity and shared prosperity for all in the growth of metropolitan Atlanta and the American South, and the Just Opportunity Circle represents an organized group of key regional economic development leaders from the private, nonprofit, and government sectors. The Summit included workshops and panel discussions on topics such as closing the racial wealth gap, leveraging public incentives for economic inclusion, and expanding access to capital for entrepreneurs of color.

Click here to learn more about the Just Opportunity Summit, or here to see photos and recordings from the event.  

National Equity Atlas Update

 

Dear Atlas Users,

Happy Summer! Early in June, we were thrilled to launch the Bay Area Equity Atlas as a new local and data policy tool. Join us for a webinar next month to explore its housing indicators and how the data can be used to prevent displacement and protect renters. This month, the National Equity Atlas team added new entrepreneurship indicators, which we will be exploring in a webinar on Thursday. We hope you will join us!
 
Join Us for the Launch of Equitable Entrepreneurship Indicators
Businesses owned by people of color make up a significant and growing share of companies in cities across the country, yet the racial wealth gap and lack of access to capital stifle entrepreneurs of color and communities lose out on the jobs, services, and financial security that come with business development and growth. To equip communities with data on entrepreneurship, we are adding four indicators of business growth and diversity to the Atlas based on the Census Bureau’s 2007 and 2012 Survey of Business Owners. Join our webinar on Thursday, June 27 to learn about these indicators and hear from Gary Cunningham, president-elect of Prosperity Now, and janera solomon, executive director of Kelly Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh, about local strategies to foster equitable entrepreneurship. Register here.
 
Advancing Racial and Economic Equity at Atlanta’s Just Opportunity Summit
Racial equity in employment, economic mobility, and wealth were key themes of the inaugural Just Opportunity Summit held June 20-21 at Morehouse College in Atlanta hosted by the Partnership for Southern Equity and the Just Opportunity Circle. Last year, we released Employment Equity: Putting Georgia on the Path to Inclusive Prosperity with Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE) and Nathaniel Smith, the organization’s founder and chief equity officer, remarked that “the Summit is grounded in the belief of equity and hard data.” Read more in our Data in Action post here.

Using Bay Area Equity Atlas Data to Prevent Displacement and Protect Renters
The housing crisis is a key equity challenge in the Bay Area, and to support communities in protecting renters from rising rents and displacement, Bay Area Equity Atlas includes indicators such as market rent, rent burden, gentrification risk, and the potential economic gains of eliminating rent burden. Join us for a webinar on July 23 to learn about these indicators and hear from community groups working on tenant protections campaigns in Concord, Hayward, Oakland, and San Jose. Register here.
 
In the News
The launch of the Bay Area Equity Atlas was covered by SFGate, CBS San Francisco, Napa Valley Register and SF Bay. It’s mission, background, and features were also highlighted by Philanthropy News Digest.
 
 
Thank you for your interest in our work!

The National Equity Atlas team at PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE)

National Equity Atlas Update

Dear Atlas Users,

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the Bay Area Equity Atlas today! This new local data and policy tool includes several new and upgraded features we will be transferring to the National Equity Atlas later this year. Join tomorrow’s webinar to take a tour of the Atlas and see a preview of what is to come. We are also excited to share new data on entrepreneurship with you on our webinar June 27th.

Introducing the Bay Area Equity Atlas
Produced in partnership with the San Francisco Foundation, the Bay Area Equity Atlas brings the power of the National Equity Atlas down to the local level. This new community data resource provides 21 equity metrics disaggregated by race, gender, and income and tracking change over time for 272 geographies across the Bay Area region, including 220 cities and Census Designated Places. Fourteen are new indicators that are not included in the Atlas, including voting, diversity of electeds, and police use of force. Read the team’s welcome blog post about how this tool helps to democratize power, then learn about five essential features that makes the Bay Area Equity Atlas a next-generation community data tool. There’s also still time to sign up for tomorrow’s webinar.

Join Us for the Launch of Entrepreneurship Indicators
Businesses owned by people of color make up a significant and growing share of companies in cities across the country, yet the racial wealth gap and lack of access to capital stifle entrepreneurs of color and communities lose out on the jobs, services, and financial security that come with business development and growth. To equip communities with data on entrepreneurship, we are adding four indicators of business growth and diversity to the Atlas based on the Census Bureau’s 2007 and 2012 Survey of Business Owners. Join us on this webinar to learn about these indicators and hear from Gary Cunningham, president-elect of Prosperity Now, about strategies that support work to foster equitable entrepreneurship.

In the News
In early May, Tampa Bay Newspapers highlighted the findings from An Equity Profile of Pinellas County. Later in the month, Streetsblog USA covered a Salud America! report that used Atlas data to detail transportation equity challenges in Latinx communities. This nola.com article also focuses on transportation equity, but uses Atlas data about housing burden to make the case for housing and infrastructure investments to ease the burden.

On the Road
The Atlas team had a busy month presenting our data and insights at the Rise Together Opportunity Summit in San Jose; the GEO Conference in Seattle; the Madison Region Economic Development & Diversity Summit in Madison, Wisconsin; and the National Academies’ Committee Informing the Development of Healthy People 2030.


Thank you for your interest in our work.

The National Equity Atlas team at PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE)

National Equity Atlas Update

Dear Atlas Users,

Happy Spring! Our team is excited to see our data informing comprehensive equity strategies in Pinellas County, FL and water equity efforts in Buffalo, NY. And we are hard at work getting ready to launch the Bay Area Equity Atlas!
 
Pinella County Equity Profile Release
This month, in partnership with UNITE Pinellas, our team released a new equity profile and summary of Pinellas County, FL. The release event drew over 400 people, ranging from high school students to community and organizational leaders eager to understand the data and take action. Anand Subramanian of PolicyLink presented the keynote and moderated a panel with representatives from the City of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County Commission, A New Deal for St. Pete, and the St. Petersburg Police Department. The report serves as a launching point for UNITE Pinellas and the members of its collaborative to orient their policy, systems, and narrative change strategies moving forward. The release event was covered in the St. Pete Catalyst and the Tampa Bay Times.
 
Buffalo’s Equitable Water Future
Earlier this month, the US Water Alliance and Buffalo’s Water Equity Task Force released “An Equitable Water Future: Buffalo,” a first-ever report on the connections between water management and equity in the city. The report uses Atlas data to make the connection between disparities in wealth and housing, and how those factors affect water systems. It argues that making water systems more equitable means ensuring that all people have access to safe, affordable water, and benefit from high-quality infrastructure and public amenities like waterfront parks.
 
Thank you for your interest in our work!

The National Equity Atlas team at PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE)

National Equity Atlas Update

Dear Atlas Users,

Greetings from the National Equity Atlas team! This month, we released a new equity profile for Orange County, California. And we were thrilled to see our data on wage disparities used to power policy advocacy in Cincinnati!
 
Orange County Equity Report Release
On March 26, about 300 people gathered at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana for the release event for An Equity Profile of Orange County, completed in partnership with Orange County Grantmakers. The presentation of data revealing stark inequities within the wealthy county made many participants uncomfortable — and ready to take action. Reacting to the presentation of the data by Dr. Manuel Pastor, Rosie Perez of Mission Integration at Providence St. Joseph Hospital said “I am motivated by the findings. I think it can bring all of us together to work toward equity.”

Cincinnati Leverages Equity Data to Win New Wage Equity Policy
On March 13, Cincinnati City Council barred employers from asking applicants about their salary history in an attempt to reduce wage disparities between men and women in the region. This was the direct result of advocacy by the Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s Women’s Fund, using data from our equity profile along with coalition building support from the PolicyLink All-In Cities initiative. The Cincinnati Business Courier and CityBeat covered the passing of the new ordinance.

Omaha Equitable Growth Profile Wins Planning Award
Our partners at the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency and the Heartland 2050 initiative received an award from the Nebraska chapter of the American Planning Association for their work using the Equitable Growth Profile of the Omaha-Council Bluffs Region to drive equity planning in the region. Since the profile was released in July, local leaders have used the data to inform multiple planning efforts spanning health, housing, transportation, and leadership development, including the United Way of the Midland’s Community Food Plan, the Douglas County Community Health Improvement Plan, and the City of Omaha’s Transit Oriented Development Initiative.

Join Our Team: PolicyLink is Hiring a Director for Our Equity Data Team
Love the Atlas? Come work with us! PolicyLink is seeking a director to lead our growing portfolio of work that leverages data to advance racial and economic equity. The director will have principal responsibility for the day-to-day management of the National Equity Atlas and the forthcoming Bay Area Equity Atlas and lead the development of other high-impact quantitative and mixed-methods analyses and data tools. Find the job description and instructions on how to apply here.

In the News
The Los Angeles Times used Atlas data on the housing burdens faced by minimum wage workers in Oakland in an article about the Athletics baseball team building housing units alongside their new stadium.

Thank you for your interest in our work!

The National Equity Atlas team at PolicyLink and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE)

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