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.

The assembled Urban Agenda partners are united behind a single shared objective: improving economic mobility for Black and Hispanic/Latino residents of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. The Urban Agenda is unapologetically directed toward rebooting long-entrenched systems and upending biased structures that have perpetuated racial disparities. By focusing collective attention deliberately on addressing systemic factors that contribute to stark differences in income, wealth and poverty among Black and Brown populations of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, the hope is that raising prospects and realities for these groups will in turn create opportunity and spark renewed economic vibrancy for the region overall.

In the spotlight

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