As home to nine Fortune 500 companies, and new investment in neighborhoods such as Over-The-Rhine, Cincinnati is poised for an economic renaissance. But not all residents are benefiting from this recovery. Persistent racial and gender inequities are preventing many residents, particularly women of color, from thriving. This profile illustrates how disparities in income, housing, educational attainment, and many other areas are costing the Cincinnati region billions of dollars in potential economic growth each year. In addition, the accompanying policy brief offers a series of recommendations designed to close some of these gaps. They were developed by PolicyLink and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at USC, in partnership with the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Interact for Health, the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, and with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Read the profile, policy brief, and fact sheet, and see the press release.

An equitable and inclusive health-care workforce in California—one that reflects the state’s racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity and offers all Californians a chance at a meaningful job—is not only a moral obligation but also an urgent economic imperative. Increasing diversity in the health sector will also be critical for improving health and eliminating racial inequities through the provision of culturally appropriate services for all communities. As the demand for health-care workers continues to increase nationally, this trend plays out significantly in California, a state that employs over 1.3 million health workers and is projected to need an additional 450,000 by 2020. However, longstanding structural inequities in education, workforce training, and employment access create serious barriers that prevent many Californians, particularly people of color, from benefiting from the emerging training and job opportunities. This report explores the powerful trends driving demand for health-care workers, the key equity challenges to filling these gaps; and a robust set of strategies and specific policies that state leaders can undertake to foster a more inclusive health workforce.

Racial and ethnic health disparities and inequities can only be eliminated if high-quality information is available by which to track immediate problems and the underlying social determinants of health. Such information can guide the design and application of culturally specific approaches to medicine and public health. Often, health outcomes are disaggregated only by broad racial and ethnic categories such as White, Black, or Hispanic. However, the great, and growing, diversity of the American population means that people’s actual experiences are much more specific. This project was a multifaceted investigation of the leading issues and opportunities for disaggregating data by race and ethnicity for use in furthering health equity. It recommends changes and improvements to the conduct of research and data collection and to the government and corporate policies that define priorities and allocate resources. This report was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

This study, co-authored by Emerald Cities and PolicyLink, and generously supported by a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, surveys the current landscape on inclusive procurement and contracting policies and practices in the infrastructure and construction industries. The goal was to specifically determine how to best position minority-owned, women-owned, and disadvantaged businesses (MWDBEs) to effectively compete for large-scale construction projects in these industries. A successful inclusive procurement program of action is key not only to providing jobs, but also to closing the wealth gap needed to secure the well-being and future of children, families, and the regions in which they live.

This report details the rationale for inclusive practices in this industry and includes historical and current equitable development policies and trends. It also identifies challenges and best practices and sets forth recommendations for strengthening the field of practice. The report provides insight into inclusive procurement and contracting policies within the energy, water, transportation, health, education, and public housing sectors. It also considers the field of practice in different geographic regions of the United States. Download executive summary here.

Oakland, California, faces a serious shortage of affordable housing. Commissioned by the Oakland City Council, A Roadmap Toward Equity analyzes the depth of the problem and presents more than a dozen policy solutions for preventing displacement, increasing the stock of affordable housing, and improving housing habitability for all Oakland residents.

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

ArtPlace commissioned Transportation for America (T4A) to write and produce a rigorous national examination of creative placemaking in the transportation planning process. This resource identifies ways that transportation professionals can integrate artists to deliver transportation projects more smoothly, improve safety, and build community support. This field scan explores seven of the most pressing challenges facing the transportation sector today and identifies how arts and cultural strategies can contribute to solutions.

In 2015, 78 percent of America’s seniors were white while 49 percent of the nation’s youth were people of color — a phenomenon that we call the racial generation gap. To the extent that racial divides result in predominantly white seniors choosing not to invest in a more racially diverse young population, this could hamstring the development of the next generation of workers and leaders. This research brief examines the growth of the racial generation gap and its effect on per-child k-12 education spending. We find that every percentage-point increase in the racial generation gap is associated with a decrease in state and local per-child education spending of around 1.5 percent. This adds up in places that have seen a lot of demographic change. For example, Nevada’s spending could be about $2,600 more per student if there was no racial generation gap. Given this relationship, it is critical to ensure equitable school funding, direct investments in youth, and build multi-generational coalitions for change. Download the BRIEF or DATA.