National Equity Atlas Update

05 Jun 2019 | Alexis Stephens
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)