Stories from the Inaugural NNIP Impact Fellowship

In late 2023 the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) launched an Impact Storytelling Fellowship to support NNIP partner staff with developing an impact story. Three Impact Fellows were selected to receive technical assistance and develop an impact story. They worked through the first half of 2024, defining impact ideas for their stories and talking to community partners to document evidence of impact. Their final stories, linked below, represent a range of different ideas about the impact of data intermediary services. Their approaches to defining and documenting impact are examples that can be adapted and used by organizations that offer data services, both within and outside of NNIP. Specific tools used in their work are linked with the story descriptions. 

Baltimore Data Day: Building Connections for Community Action. Amanda Phillips de Lucas. Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance (BNIA) 

This story explores the impact of Baltimore Data Day, an annual BNIA event that brings together residents, community leaders, and government representatives to create connections and learn about moving from data to action. Read to learn more about how the relationships that start at Data Day grow into partnerships and collaborations.  

Related Resources: 

• A short email survey was sent to people who participated at multiple Data Days to explore why they participate and the value they get from participating. 

• An interview was conducted with Fight Blight, a local partner with deep engagement in Data Day using this interview guide. 

Decreasing Social and Economic Disparities in San Antonio and Bexar County. Cristina Martinez. CI:NOW 

The story reveals that CI:NOW’s data and technical assistance has been integral to the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County’s Impact Council work. Read to learn more about how CI:NOW shapes decisions about funding priorities and programmatic decisions that are having an impact in the lives of San Antonio families.  

Related Resource: 

• CI:NOW needed documentation about how data influenced United Way strategies and decisions, what new investments were made, and the community improvements documented (or envisioned) by the new investments. Multiple interviews were conducted using this (or a similar version of this) interview guide. 

Community Voice as Actionable Data. Nikolai Elneser. Neighborhood Nexus. (Atlanta) 

This story describes how Neighborhood Nexus is defining impact for a major new panel survey initiative that will provide real-time insights about Atlanta residents’ priorities, opinions, and values. Read to learn more about how Neighborhood Nexus’s impact ideas will keep the initiative on track to achieve its vision to shape local policy, program, and funding decisions. 

 Related Resource: 

• Neighborhood Nexus used this draft interview guide to gather reflections on a prior initiative that informed the creation of the panel survey.