Photo Credit – Greater Cleveland Partnership
Leaders Unite Behind Urban Agenda to Alleviate Income, Poverty and Wealth Disparities in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County
On Jan. 31 at the Greater Cleveland Partnership offices, 1240 Huron Road East, a ceremonial signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) setting forth their commitment to working collaboratively toward Three economic mobility goals and a series of interim benchmarks. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb; County Executive Chris Ronayne; Lillian Kuri, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Cleveland Foundation, and GCP President and CEO Baiju Shah offered brief remarks during the signing ceremony. Leaders or representatives of Cleveland Council, Cuyahoga County Council, the George Gund Foundation, United Way of Greater Cleveland, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland State University and Case Western Reserve University demonstrated their support for the Urban Agenda project by taking part in the signing event.
An Urban Agenda for Cleveland and Cuyahoga County
This Urban Agenda is a bold collective pursuit for Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. Beginning in Fall 2019, PolicyBridge has been convening talks and organizing meetings of leaders and representatives from local government, philanthropic, business, advocacy and social support organizations. Building on a 2021 report from PolicyBridge advocating for “Resetting the Table” in Cleveland, these meetings have sought to bring together local stakeholders and challenge them to think differently and act collaboratively to address deep-rooted systemic problems that have too long held back the local community and its people. The COVID-19 pandemic initially slowed progress, but ultimately enabled this effort to ride the tide of an unprecedented wave of new institutional leadership. Now is the time for an Urban Agenda envisioning a brighter future for Cleveland and Cuyahoga County through collective action.
OPED – PUBLISHED JULY 28, 2023
The state of Black America and Black Cleveland is troubled: Gregory L. Brown and Marsha Mockabee
By Guest Columnist, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND — Two recently released reports benchmark and illustrate the effects of systemic inequities, racial hatred, and discriminatory policies and practices experienced by people of color in America, particularly African Americans.
The first is the National Urban League’s “State of Black America,” which is an analysis of the explosive growth of domestic extremism and systemic inequities in the areas of economics, employment, health, housing, criminal justice, and civic participation. The report details how domestic extremists in America are now advocating for the elimination of our civil liberties, infiltrating our military ranks, law enforcement and political systems.
LATEST REPORT – RELEASED MAY 2023
The State of Black Cleveland
The state of the Black community in Cleveland has been affected by many issues over recent years. Topics ranging from the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, the digital divide, systemic disinvestment in communities of color and much more have all contributed to troubling outcomes that have stymied progress and perpetuated poverty, unemployment and trauma. For the sake of this report, the following five areas are being highlighted for further review and analysis: Health Disparities, Education, Economic Opportunity, Neighborhoods and Housing and Community Violence. Challenges associated with these five areas have resulted in the current State of Black Cleveland being defined as “Troubled” or “Marginalized”.
Improving Policy and Encouraging Opportunity
America is in Crisis and Racism is the Culprit!
From a practical perspective racism is expensive…. Read Complete Paper
After Months of Protests for Racial Equality: Where Are We Now?
“You’ve heard people say, ‘I can’t breathe’ wasn’t just about someone with a knee on their neck. Many feel that there’s that’s a metaphor for many facets of life…” Randell McShepard said.
