This brief introduces strategies for planning for health equity at a regional scale and summarizes the movement for building healthy communities. It draws from the experiences of regional equity coalitions and metropolitan planning organizations to identify five important conditions that must be met to achieve effective results.

Achieving equitable growth in cities and regions will require a new set of tools, innovative leveraging of resources, and unprecedented levels of collaboration. This report draws from the work already underway in more than 40 cities and regions to connect low-income people and communities of color to the economic mainstream. It lifts up strategies concentrated in seven areas, all helping communities to plan for equitable growth, remove employment barriers, grow good jobs, and strengthen the education pipeline.

This brief presents case studies and promising practices for connecting hard-to-employ job seekers, men of color, and low-income residents to temporary and permanent job opportunities in the infrastructure sector. Featured are targeted first-source hiring and contracting programs implemented through community workforce agreements (CWAs), community benefit agreements (CBAs), and/or project labor agreements (PLAs). The document draws on a scan of national best practices originally developed for the City of New Orleans.

This brief presents promising practices for wrapping young men of color in supports such as pre-employment services, transitional jobs, and job placement services. It draws on a scan of national best practices originally developed for the City of New Orleans.

This brief identifies a number of promising programs and practices in the health-care sector that promotes access to economic opportunities for people of color and other individuals facing barriers to opportunity. It draws on a scan of national best practices originally developed for the City of New Orleans.

Anchor institutions are large, place-based organizations, often public or nonprofit, that exist as core fixtures in local communities. This brief provides promising examples where anchor institutions have engaged in activities to advance economic inclusion, promote access to employment, and otherwise improve the circumstances faced by boys and men of color. It draws on a scan of national best practices originally developed for the City of New Orleans.

With a median household income of $110,292, Fairfax County, Virginia is one of the wealthiest counties in the nation—but not all residents share in this economic prosperity. As its population has grown and diversified over the past 25 years, inequities in income and opportunity by race and geography have also increased. Given that communities of color are expected to increase from 45 to 72 percent of the population by 2040, taking concrete steps to create pathways for the communities being left behind to connect to education and good jobs is critical for the county’s economic future. This study was produced in partnership with the County and other local leaders to support their efforts to build a stronger and more equitable county. Download the profile.

 

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Anchor institutions, such as colleges and universities, hospitals and health-care facilities, utilities, faith-based organizations and museums have a role to play in driving economic growth. This brief is an introduction to developing and implementing an anchor strategy that can advance equity and economic inclusion in order to promote regional prosperity. It provides actionable recommendations for federal Economic Resilience and Sustainable Communities grantees and their broad range of regional partners.

Summarizes the report that delves in detail into issues of race and place and what they mean in the context of building healthy communities--dynamic groups and initiatives are featured to illuminate action at the intersection of health, place, and race.