There will be more people of color in Minnesota’s future, a fact that bodes well for realizing a more robust economy in the state. Minnesota’s Tomorrow: Equity is the Superior Growth Model, commissioned by the state’s philanthropies, makes clear that realizing the potential of Minnesota’s growing diversity requires adopting an equity strategy that would grow new jobs and businesses while bolstering long-term competitiveness. Equity is an economic imperative that means fair and just inclusion for all into a society where every Minnesotan can participate and prosper.

Minnesota’s Tomorrow: Equity Is the Superior Growth Model summary available.

This is the sixth and final in a series of briefs that describe the changes, insights, and lessons when arts and cultural strategies are deployed in service of comprehensive community development and planning. During ArtPlace America's Community Development Investments initiative, six participating organizations which had not previously focused on the arts developed creative placemaking projects and cultural strategies that could help them more effectively achieve their missions. PolicyLink conducted a research and documentation project to measure the progress, immediate outcomes, and impacts of those projects.

This final brief reflects on the journeys of the six organizations and presents a framework and observations on the support systems required for integrating arts and culture strategies and practices into community development organizations. 

Explore more about our research and documentation project and view the other briefs at communitydevelopment.art/strategies.

This fact sheet was created in partnership with the Raise the Roof Coalition to support their work in Contra Costa County to advance policies that protect renters at risk of eviction during the COVID-19 emergency. Key findings include:

• 14,000 Contra Costa County households – including 12,100 children – are at imminent risk of eviction and homelessness if the county's eviction moratorium is lifted because they include one or more workers who’ve lost their jobs and have no replacement income.
• An additional 8,700 households could be at risk of eviction once the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program ends on July 31.

See the accompanying analysis and methodology. 

Learn more about the campaign at www.facebook.com/raisetheroofconcord/. 

This is the second in a series of briefs that describe the changes, insights, and lessons when arts and cultural strategies are deployed in service of comprehensive community development and planning. During ArtPlace America's Community Development Investments initiative, six participating organizations which had not previously focused on the arts developed creative placemaking projects and cultural strategies that could help them more effectively achieve their missions. PolicyLink conducted a research and documentation project to measure the progress, immediate outcomes, and impacts of those projects. This brief examines how these organizations grew and changed internally in order to incorporate arts and culture into their overall direction and day-to-day practices.  

Explore more about our research and documentation project and view the first brief and other briefs as they are released at communitydevelopment.art.

As wages have stagnated for the majority of workers in the U.S. and inequality has skyrocketed, racial inequity has grown. In Biloxi, Mississippi, these inequities are deep, leaving many Black and Latinx households facing racial and geographic barriers to economic opportunity. The coastal community of East Biloxi has the potential to address some of these inequities through investment in the federal Opportunity Zone program. However, this will only happen if there is an intentional focus on lifting up the most vulnerable communities. Download the brief to learn more about the federal Opportunity Zone program and how it can be leveraged to benefit low-income residents and people of color.  

In recent years a national discussion has been underway about the causes and effects of growing inequality, but one cause that has received little attention is the role of the U.S. tax code. The individual tax code contains more than $1 trillion in tax subsidies known to policymakers and economists as tax expenditures because, like spending programs, they provide financial assistance to support specific activities or groups of people. Of these subsidies, more than half a trillion, $540 billion, support some form of savings or investment (e.g., higher education, retirement, homeownership).

In theory, tax code–based public subsidies should help all families save and invest, but instead, wealthier households receive most of the benefits. In fact, a recent analysis of the largest wealth- building tax subsidies found that the top 1 percent of households received more benefits from these tax code–based subsidies than the bottom 80 percent combined.

The new brief answers key questions about tax expenditures: What are they, how do they work, and who benefits? In addition, since the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does not collect tax data by race, the primer uses data related to the distribution of benefits by income quintiles and the demographics of each quintile to provide a rough approximation of how different racial and ethnic groups do or do not benefit from the different categories of tax expenditures.

Houston-Galveston is characterized by overall economic strength and resilience, but wide racial gaps in income, health, and opportunity coupled with declining wages, a shrinking middle class, and rising inequality place the region’s economic success and future at risk. Our analysis showed the region already stands to gain a great deal from addressing racial inequities. If racial gaps in income had been closed in 2012, the regional economy would have been $243.3 billion stronger: a 54 percent increase. You can also download the summary and addendum.

Find other equity profiles here.

This issue brief describes the economic and community benefits of ensuring every family can live in an affordable home.

Find other equity briefs here.

This issue brief describes how engaging youth benefits families, communities, and the economy.

Find other equity briefs here.

This issue brief describes how building an equitable transportation system benefits families, communities, and the economy.