The Columbus regional economy is strong and growing quickly, but racial inequities in the workforce threaten the region’s future prosperity. This report, produced in partnership with Emsi Burning Glass, One Columbus, and the Workforce Innovation Center, provides a comprehensive analysis of long-standing racial gaps in labor market outcomes, the economic impacts of Covid-19, and the racial equity implications of automation. Our in-depth analysis of disaggregated equity indicators and labor market dynamics found that only 42 percent of the region’s workers are in future-ready jobs, that Black workers with an associate’s degree earn on average the same wages as white workers with just a high school diploma, and that eliminating racial inequities in income could boost the Columbus regional economy by about $10 billion a year. The report concludes with actionable solutions to advance workforce equity across the region, informed by the data and shaped by local leaders. Download the report.

Media: Racial Inequities Cost Columbus Economy $10 Billion a Year, Report Finds (The Columbus Dispatch)

The coronavirus had disproportionate economic and health impacts on low-income workers and workers of color and deepened existing inequities along lines of race, class, and gender. In response to the pandemic, most state and many local governments convened task forces of cross-sector leaders to advise on how to respond to the public health and economic crisis. To understand the promise and success of these task forces in relation to racial equity and worker justice, we analyzed the scope, approach, and early outcomes of taskforces in all 50 states and 70 cities. We found that while community and labor representatives on a few task forces succeeded in advancing policies that will benefit low-income workers and workers of color, the majority failed to meaningfully engage with advocates or advance recovery solutions that centered equity. To ensure that future crisis-response task forces advance policies that build an economy that works for all, we must provide meaningful supports to allow advocates and directly impacted community members to participate in decision-making guided by equity principles.

Lake Research Partners, the national survey represents 1,000 eligible voters nationwide with oversamples of Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities across the United States. This polling surfaced ideological clusters of voters that represent patterns in understanding race and race-based policies to end social inequality. To further understand the clusters identified through polling, PolicyLink partners with HIT Strategies to conduct focus groups to gather more qualitative insight to the attitudinal trends. The insights gleaned through this research intend to support broader understanding of attitude trends that impact national narratives.

The survey results and focus groups in this study illuminate the importance of getting the message of racial equity out to the private sector and government leaders. The attitudinal findings also demonstrate the importance of getting a message into the collective soul of America. Our country cannot make the bold and swift change necessary to rescue our democracy if we do not understand the severity of America’s ideological discord.

Knowing where we stand in terms of cultural attitudes will help inform our grassroots, corporate, and governmental strategies to liberate the nearly 100 million people living in poverty. Creating a new country that unlocks the potential in us all, requires that we face all barriers to national unity bravely. Race & Equity in America: Annual Attitudinal Research continues to be an essential step in acknowledging our nation’s harmful history and its current manifestations so that we are precise in the path we chart with collaborators to reach America’s highest and truly attainable democratic potential.

This policy example outlining an approach for the design and implementation of the proposed Community Restoration and Revitalization Fund (CRRF) is a companion to the report, A Blueprint for the Next Generation of Federal Place-Based Policy.  The blueprint offers a two-step process for policy analysis and program design that starts with high-level, analytical questions that help provide the aspirational framework for then addressing a series of specific design decisions. It aims to help federal agency officials, congressional staff, and policy advocates design place-based policies and programs that respond to the priorities of local practitioners to actively address racial inequity and injustice, bridge sectors and policy domains, respect and build community voice and power, deliver sufficient resources and lasting system reforms, and promote continuous learning.

This policy example is a companion to the report, A Blueprint for the Next Generation of Federal Place-Based Policy, and offers consideration of how the blueprint’s recommendations might apply to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH). The blueprint offers a two-step process for policy analysis and program design that starts with high-level, analytical questions that help provide the aspirational framework for addressing a series of specific design decisions. It aims to help federal agency officials, congressional staff, and policy advocates design place-based policies and programs that respond to the priorities of local practitioners to actively address racial inequity and injustice, bridge sectors and policy domains, respect and build community voice and power, deliver sufficient resources and lasting system reforms, and promote continuous learning.