The Pine Ridge reservation, home of Oglala Lakota people, sits within a broader regional economic context whose primary sectors include tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, and retail.1 The Pine Ridge Reservation and the Rapid City Metropolitan area are interdependent economies that, to date, channel many economic benefits off-reservation. This Equity and Opportunity Assessment identifies key strategies to create greater vibrancy and equity in reservation-based economic activity—to increase prosperity and quality of life for both the Oglala Lakota people and the region as a whole.

The Piedmont Triad region in North Carolina—covering 12 counties and home to the cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point—is a growing region whose demographics are rapidly changing. Communities of color are driving growth, and have increased from 20 to 33 percent of the population since 1980. Ensuring its diverse residents can participate in the regional economy and contribute to stronger job growth and broadly shared prosperity is critical for the region’s future. Growing good jobs, investing in its workforce, and infusing economic inclusion into economic development and growth strategies are promising strategies. Download the profile and summary.

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. Download the equity profile, summary, and addendum with the GDP analysis.

Media: Study: Urgently Provide More Educational and Employment Opportunities for Hispanics in Southeast Texas (en Español)

The promising practices cited herein include both proven practices as well as those that are less tested but represent an innovative and thoughtful effort to address a problem.

Omaha-Council Bluffs has a relatively strong and resilient regional economy, with overall low unemployment and steady job growth. At the same time, wages have stagnated for most workers and many communities of color face barriers to accessing good jobs, living wages, and the education needed for the jobs of the future. Increasing connections to good jobs, raising the floor for low-wage work, and building communities of opportunity metro-wide are key strategies to shift the region towards equitable growth. Download summary here.

Find other equity profiles here.

This guide aims to describe the programs, policies, and practices that set families on a path to financial security while achieving prescribed Promise Neighborhoods results. The tool is also intended to connect Promise Neighborhoods to potential partnerships across the asset-building field. Many of the practices lifted up in this guide are designed to mitigate the negative outcomes associated with lack of academic and family supports, as well as the compounded effects of concentrated poverty and financial instability in communities.

Communities of color are driving Southeast Florida’s population growth, and their ability to participate and thrive is central to the region’s economic success. But wide racial gaps in income, health, and opportunity place its future at risk. Creating good jobs, connecting youth and vulnerable workers to training and career pathways, and increasing access to economic opportunities can secure a bright economic future for the region. PolicyLink and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) produced this profile in partnership with the Southeast Florida Regional Planning Partnership. You can also download the profile and summary.

Media: South Florida Least Affordable for Housing, Studies Show (SunSentinal) 

The PolicyLink Equity Guide to Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grants is designed to help applicants structure equity focused activities into their grant applications. This guide—an update of the inaugural guide released in Summer 2010 in preparation for the first round of grants—provides information on how regions can incorporate social equity into their applications for the second round of funding for sustainable communities grants, announced in early August of 2011. It was written for local governments, metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), nonprofits, foundations, and educational institutions who are interested in developing competitive grant applications.

Highlights some of the promising, community-centered police practices being implemented throughout the country: practices that are opening police departments to traditionally underrepresented communities; engaging communities as partners in solving neighborhood problems; and making police departments more accountable to the communities they serve and protect. (2001)

Transit Oriented Development that’s Healthy, Green and Just asks a basic question about Puget Sound’s new light rail system – how do we ensure this massive public investment benefits all families? In Southeast Seattle neighborhoods the light rail has already accelerated gentrification and may lead to displacement of many communities of color into the suburbs. It’s not just a lack of affordable housing, though. Low-wage jobs keep family incomes down as real estate prices rise, creating pressure to leave. As it turns out, transit oriented development that ignores racial equity and job quality will short-change light rail’s potential environmental benefits