Highlights from the NNIP Partners' Meeting in Oakland

Collaborating with Young People

We heard from partners in Milwaukee, Hartford, and Oakland on partnering with young people. The overarching theme was that youth voices should be included in every conversation; there is untapped potential and power with young people. Data You Can Use in Milwaukee used their Data Chat model to work with Black youth and analyze the bright spots of data in neighborhoods. In Hartford, the CTData Collaborative hired youth as fellows, who participated in a data training and were leading a data walk within six weeks. Urban Strategies Council in Oakland faciliates three youth programs, including youth involvement in the city's update to the general plan where they are engaging with community members to understand their vision for Oakland's future. Power in uplifting youth voices to transform places. While this work is hard, empowering young people's data skills results in stronger community connections and data. 

Data as a Tool to Support Black Wealth Building

Discussing the framing of wealth as a measure of one's ability to thrive, Carolyn Johnson (CJ) from the Black Cultural Zone in Oakland highlighted the need to start talking about the truth of racist history and present day practices, before moving to reconciliation and reparations. She noted that wealth in the Black Community is looks like being able to trust and rely on your neighbors, feeling safe, being able to celebrate Black arts and culture, and collective ownership of land and community assets. Lamar Gradere from The Data Center in New Orleans talked about the history of wealth stripping in New Orleans and connecting the wealth gap data to real experience in order to inform strategies to bring about change.

Retaining Residents and Preventing Displacement through Housing Justice

This panel showcased three examples from partners working to prevent displacement. The Center for Urban and Regional Analysis at the University of Minnesota presented how their anti-displacement project used deep community engagement through a reparative justice lens and previous research on displacement spurred from light rails in Minneapolis. Detroit Future City discussed their collaboration with Data Driven Detroit on their research on small dollar mortgages and developing solutions to support homeownership for Detroit residents with low and moderate incomes to stay in their neighborhoods. Oakland Community Land Trust explained their origin story, being incubated in Urban Strategies Council and acquiring vacant and foreclosed homes to their current community-based practice to provide affordable housing.

Partnering with Public Health Agencies 

Three partners, Seattle, San Antonio, and New Haven, shared their organization’s relationships with public health departments and lessons learned from past collaborations, highlighting the need to engage with public health departments because all NNIP areas relate back to public health. Health departments can provide important data, such as vital signs and mortality rates to inform work. Public health departments also seek analysis and thought partners, particularly in the wake of capacity-related issues from the COVID-19 pandemic. All public health departments are different, engaging and collaborating with the local department is essential to understand their priorities. 

NNIP Camp sessions included rental ownership, AI, community survey methods, data on Black wealth, project management, and more!