Catalyzing and undergirding government and philanthropic efforts to advance equitable growth

• The San Francisco Foundation used our analysis to design their equity strategy and then partnered with our team to build the Bay Area Equity Atlas data resource to inform equitable growth solutions throughout the 9-county region.

• Our data and analysis supported the McKnight Foundation in developing its new equitable communities program area.
• Economic development agencies in Portland and New Orleans used our data and framing of equity as an economic imperative to make the business case for equity and undergird their strategic plans for equitable economic growth.
• The Equitable Growth Profile we produced for Fairfax County documented hidden poverty in one of the nation’s wealthiest counties, leading the county and the school board to adopt a “One Fairfax” policy to consider equity throughout their investments, activities, and policies.
• In Albuquerque and New Orleans, the equity profiles we produced are informing the activities of equity offices established to institutionalize an equity approach and advance equity throughout city policy and activities, including procurement and small business development.
• Our data revealing that communities of color are driving growth in Rhode Island yet face major barriers to economic opportunity inspired then-Governor Chafee to open an Office of Diversity, Equity, and Opportunity focused on inclusive hiring and contracting in government jobs.

Bolstering grassroots policy advocacy to protect renters, boost wages, and increase housing affordability

• Our fact sheets presenting the community and economic benefits of addressing the rental affordability crisis informed the Homes for All campaign’s 2017 Renter Week of Action, garnering local and national media attention and equipping community organizers in 38 cities with powerful data to make the case for tenant protections.
• The Hayward Collective – an all-volunteer community group – used our fact sheetdescribing the renter crisis in the Bay Area’s sixth largest city to win a new just cause eviction policy protecting all renters from evictions and a strengthened rent stabilization ordinance that brings 9,500 homes back under regulation and protects Section 8 voucher holders from discrimination.
• California advocates used the $15/hour indicator in the National Equity Atlas to successfully make the case for a $15/hour minimum wage with state policymakers.
• Louisiana housing advocates used our renter data to successfully pass a temporary ban on short-term rentals to halt the loss of affordable homes in New Orleans, and to fight back against a state law that would have banned local governments from adopting inclusionary zoning policies.

Strengthening reporting and opinion writing on equity issues

• Journalist Ron Brownstein and colleagues at The National Journal and now The Atlantic have used our data to inform several series of articles exploring equity issues including the concentration of students of color in schools where most of their classmates are low-income, racial wage and employment gaps, and racial gaps in educational attainment.
• In local papers from Winston-Salem to Austin to Lansing, reporters and editors have used our data on working poverty, school poverty, and the potential economic gains of equity in income, employment, and rental housing affordability in stories that elevate the importance of equity-driven solutions in the realms of wages, jobs, education, and housing.
• Policy advocates have used our data to bolster opinion pieces in local papers such as the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Examiner, and Seattle Times and national media outlets such as Teen Vogue, VICE, Yes! Magazine, and CityLab.

Informing cross-sector, place-based policy and systems change efforts

• Our data is supporting the place-based policy change engagements of the PolicyLink All-In Cities Initiative, which includes multi-sector community coalitions in Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, Long Island, Newark, and Pittsburgh. In each place, community leaders are using our data tracking change over time and disaggregated by race and income on key indicators of racial economic inclusion and equitable growth to inform their action strategies.
• In Pittsburgh, our data and neighborhood mapping on indicators of economic security, housing burden, joblessness, and availability of affordable housing, has informed the All-In Pittsburgh Equitable Development Collaborative’s implementation strategy which has led to: new legislation requiring City departments to include equity measurements with budget requests; $2.5 million restored to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s budget; a new state law ending the mandatory suspension of driver’s licenses for low-level, non-driving offenses; and $330,000 in grants to protect tenants and launch small businesses. 

Supporting data-driven community analysis, action & communications

• In more than two dozen diverse cities, counties, and regions, our comprehensive equity profiles produced in partnership with community leaders have helped build shared narratives about the economic imperative of equity, attract new partners from the private sector and philanthropy, and continue to inform planning and policy development efforts.
• In the five southern states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and North Carolina, our community coalition partners are using our research and data on barriers to employment and the potential economic benefits of full employment for all to advance policies to achieve employment equity: when everyone who wants to work has a good job that pays family-supporting wages.
• Leaders of community-based organizations are integrating National Equity Atlas data, charts, and maps into grant proposals to explain the equitable growth challenges they are addressing.
• Community advocates are using National Equity Atlas data and graphics to fuel conversations about equity issues on social media and foster greater community engagement.
• Mayors, public officials, nonprofit leaders, and philanthropy leaders include our data in their speeches to make the case for equity as a driver of healthy, prosperous communities.