Diversitydatakids.org Project Provides Equity-Focused Tool

Diversitydatakids.org, a research project designed by the Brandeis University's Heller School of Social Policy and Management and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, is the first national information system to take a comprehensive, equity-focused approach to monitor progress toward improved well-being for children of all racial and ethnic groups. Indicators examine several domains, including education, housing, health, policy indicators and more with up to seven geographies and multiple time periods.

Users have the ability to:

• Query the database of child well-being and policy indicators by topic, by geographic area (national, state, county, metropolitan area, city, or school district) and by race/ethnicity;
  
• Display the results of data queries through three website functions: customizable area profile reports, area ranking reports, and thematic maps;
  
• Explore maps of child-focused opportunity indices for all neighborhoods in each of the 100 largest metropolitan areas and overlay the child population by race/ethnicity on these contextual maps of neighborhood opportunity;
  
• Read equity-focused analyses of selected policy and program areas that are relevant to child wellbeing, for example, Head Start, and coming soon, Child Care Subsidies, Family and Medical Leave, and Housing Subsidies.
  
• Read and share our infographics, briefs and reports featuring our rigorous data and policy analysis on issues of child wellbeing and equity.

To learn more, visit the website.

Healthy Food Access Portal Hosts Virtual Training on Community Mapping Tool

Healthy Food Access Portal hosts a virtual training on Research Your Community, a new mapping tool to help communities and organizations understand the landscape of food accessibility in a given area.The Healthy Food Access Portal harnesses a vast array of data and information to support the successful planning and implementation of policies, programs, and projects to improve access to healthy foods in low-income and communities of color. The Portal is designed to help people access resources related to healthy food access policy efforts, funding opportunities, and successful retail strategies.

The tool helps communities identify the changes that can improve food accessibility and serve as  a valuable resource for advocacy and fundraising efforts. The grocery landscape is ever changing, and data is one of many ways to paint a picture of a community’s need for healthy food access interventions. This webinar will train users about how to effectively leverage this new tool.

Powered by PolicyMap, this tool allows users to access 60 data indicators. Topics include:

• Demographics, including income and SNAP participation; 
• The food environment, including locations of supermarkets and farmers markets; 
• Health indicators, such as fruit and vegetable consumption and 
• Eligibility data for federal funding programs, such as the New Markets Tax Credit program.

The virtual training will take place March 10, 2015,  2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. (ET). Register here to learn how to use this tool.

Mapping Assistance for Non-Profits Available through the Summer of Maps Fellowship

We’ve all heard the phrase: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” When trying to identify resources and deepen our understanding of the issues that face communities, sometimes a map can be worth a thousand words as well. Maps showing anything from population data to crime hotspots help inform the decisions in communities across the country around where to target services and where to make strategic investments. They can be a tool to also illustrate important points around community needs and assets to funders, community partners and residents.

 
Understanding the value of mapping for non-profit organizations, Azavea has opened applications for non-profit organizations to participate in a fellowship program that pairs student Geographic Information System (GIS) analysts with non-profits that have geospatial analysis needs for a three-month period. Students will work with mentors on two projects for the summer to create maps and related documents in support of their non-profits needs. This application is open to non-profit organizations across the country who work around organizations doing work around:

 

• Arts
• Environment
• Food
• Housing
• Land and water
• Transportation
• Open Government

To see examples of some of the maps created through the 2014 Summer of Maps Fellowship, click here.

Applications for non-profit organizations close on January 8th, 2015. Fellows and organizations for the 2015 summer of maps will be announced on May 1st, 2015 and fellowships will begin on June 1, 2015. Applications can be completed online at here.

Living Cities Improves Usability of Resources

Living Cities works with twenty two of the largest foundations and financial institutions as well as cross-sector leaders in cities "to develop and scale new approaches to dramatically improve the economic well-being of low-income people" through investments, research, networks, and convenings. The organization launched new website upgrades, including a search bar that allows users to easily target their search and access content from the website.

As a resource that aims to create open source space to leverage knowledge sharing for social change, the website provides real-time articles, reports, videos and toolkits from others working on similar issues. New features allow users to shape the conversation and the usage of terms. A user can click on a term framed in an orange ‘definition box’ within the article to clearly define or add context to the terms Living Cities uses to write and talk about their work, allowing for an inclusive community approach to ongoing dialogue. Issues range from concrete to more theoretical topics, from lessons for helping formerly incarcerated Americans access quality jobs to reimagining the civic infrastructure that brings different sectors together to address complex social problems. The variety of resources serve to expand collaboration among organizations working at different levels and areas of social change.

To learn more, visit LivingCities.Org