National Equity Atlas in 2019: Going Local, Informing Policy, Refreshing Data for the New Year!

17 Dec 2019 | Alexis Stephens
National Equity Atlas in 2019: Going Local, Informing Policy, Refreshing Data for the New Year!
Dear Atlas Users,

Happy Holidays from the National Equity Atlas team! We are proud of the work we did in 2019 to advance the conversation on equitable growth and equip community leaders with data to power campaigns for racial and economic equity. Here are a few highlights:
 

We launched the Bay Area Equity Atlas!
On June 5th, we released our first local data and policy tool: the Bay Area Equity Atlas. Created in partnership with the San Francisco Foundation, the Atlas includes 21 metrics across the foundation’s People, Place, and Power equity framework and covers 271 geographies in the nine-county region. We’ve been thrilled to see communities using the data to protect renters from displacement, improve outcomes for the Latinx population, and develop equity strategies in the suburbs/exurbs, as well as to read the in-depth stories written by local journalists incorporating our data.

Leveraging Data for Local Policy and Systems Change
The dozens of equity profiles we have produced with local partners over the years continue to inform decision-making, organizing, and policy campaigns. Data from the Cincinnati Equitable Growth Profile helped advocates successfully pass a wage equity policy this March, and that same month our Omaha partners received an American Planning Association award for their work using the profile data to drive equitable planning for health, housing, and transportation. In 2019, we worked with community partners in Long Beach (CA), Orange County (CA), and Pinellas County (FL) to develop equity profiles that are now informing local policy discussions.

New Data Driving the Policy Debate on Inclusive Growth
This year, we added data to the Atlas tracking racial equity in entrepreneurship and business growth. We also produced an analysis that classifies regions according to how their economies are shifting with the rise of tech-driven industries, and what strategies can foster shared prosperity, including case studies of Charlotte, Philadelphia, and Stockton. And, we produced fact sheets to inform the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty’s campaigns to protect families from predatory financial services.

Atlas in the News
Our data and reports have been covered by various local and national media outlets and articles, and journalists, as well as community leaders, have used our data in op-eds and articles. See this media coverage here.

Thank you for your interest! We are working hard to bring you updated data and a brand new interface in early 2020, and we are excited to reconnect in 2020.

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