October 2017
America's Tomorrow, October 26
Overview
University of California Bans the Box for Job Applicants
It’s no secret that the U.S. is facing a housing affordability crisis, but just how serious and pervasive the issues is may not be as clear. In several sessions at the 2017 ULI Fall Meeting in Los Angeles, panelists discussed how cities across the country are facing issues of income inequality, as well as lack of economic mobility and government support, which are contributing to an under-supply of affordable housing and further exacerbating the issue of homelessness across the country.
October 2017
Competitive Advantage of Racial Equity
Overview
The Competitive Advantage of Racial Equity, and the accompanying op-ed in Fortune, both produced in partnership with FSG. It is our aspiration that these business strategies will complement the push, from outside and inside corporations, for more fair and equitable operations.
The report goes beyond the essential ingredient of workforce diversity, as a means for business to address past and continuing discrimination while improving their competitiveness, to challenge the corporate sector to affirmatively advance racial equity through its products, services, and public policy positions.
Find all related material for The Corporate Racial Equity Advantage
The water burbled from the floors of Vickie Carson’s cottage in the semirural northern edge of Houston, saturating everything she owned.
It seeped through the ceiling of Ebony Harrison’s apartment in the impoverished Sunnyside neighborhood, dousing her newborn daughter as she slept.
Advancing Economic Inclusion in Southern Cities
In 2015, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, in partnership with PolicyLink, launched Southern Cities for Economic Inclusion, a cohort of seven cities dedicated to advancing economic equity for low-income communities and communities of color. Comprised of city officials and staff, local philanthropy, and business and community partners from Atlanta, Asheville, Charlotte, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans and Richmond, the group convenes regularly to share best practices and learn from experts. Their next meeting will be in Richmond from October 23-25.
This group explicitly identifies and addresses the unique historical, political, and legal obstacles to achieving economic inclusion in the South; namely, the region’s deeply entrenched legacy of racism and segregation, as well as the structural limitations imposed by state laws that strip cities of the authority to advance economic inclusion policies such as local hiring or inclusive procurement.
Leaders from the seven cities are advancing real solutions by:
- Establishing an economic agenda that both acknowledges and confronts the legacy of race. City and community leaders in New Orleans and Atlanta have created economic opportunity plans that set a proactive agenda to invest in people of color and others who have been left behind and demonstrate how equity will lead to everyone being better off.
- Bringing together diverse stakeholders to advance an economic inclusion agenda. In Memphis, Nashville, and elsewhere, anchor institutions such as universities and medical facilities, along with business and other leaders in the private sector, are coming together with city partners to encourage growth in the minority business community and bring new investments into communities without causing displacement.
- Innovating policies and programs to support minority-owned businesses and connect people to jobs. In Charlotte, Richmond, and Asheville, cities have developed pilot procurement programs and incentives to support minority businesses and to help connect individuals with barriers to employment to good jobs.
These projects and initiatives are changing the cultural silence on race in economic development policy and strengthening local positions despite state restrictions on local authority. We applaud these city leaders for their work thus far. Reaching this point has required creativity in policy design, political deftness, and most of all, resilience. However, advancing this work will require additional investment and strong partnerships across a wide range of stakeholders, including local and national philanthropy, the private sector, and community-based organizations. We hope you will join us to advance an economically inclusive and prosperous South.
October 2017
Built Environment Journal Special Edition: Planning for Equitable Urban and Regional Food Systems
Overview
How does and can planning and design enhance the freedom and wellbeing of marginalized actors in the food system – low-income residents, people of colour, small-holder farmers, and refugees – the very people the alternative food movements purport to serve? That is the question of concern in this special issue in which authors from across the Global North and South explore the role of planning and design in communities’ food systems, while explicitly considering the imbalances in equity, justice, and power.
Last November, city leaders approved a $1.2 billion redevelopment project at 1933 S. Broadway, just a few blocks south of the 10 Freeway. The developers aimed to break ground this year on the transformation of The Reef/L.A. Mart, turning a small hub of creative-industry and fabrication tenants into a massive cluster with more than 1,400 apartments and condominiums, a hotel, and more than 120,000 square feet of retail/commercial space.