David Harris, Chair of the Equity & Engagement Committee (EEC), presented an update to the Steering Committee highlighting past achievements and upcoming activities.
2. Partnership for Sustainable Communities
Six Livability Principles (U.S. Depts. Of Housing & Urban
Development, Transportation, & Environmental Protection
Agency)
1. Provide more transportation choices - Develop safe, reliable and economical
transportation choices to decrease household transportation costs.
2. Promote equitable, affordable housing - Expand location- and energy-
efficient housing choices for people of all ages, incomes, races and ethnicities to increase mobility
and lower the combined cost of housing and transportation.
3. Enhance economic competitiveness - Improve economic competitiveness
through reliable and timely access to employment centers, educational opportunities,
services and other basic needs by workers as well as expanded business access to
markets.
4. Support existing communities - Target federal funding toward existing
communities—through such strategies as transit-oriented, mixed-use development and land
recycling—to increase community revitalization, improve the efficiency of public works investments,
and safeguard rural landscapes.
5. Coordinate policies and leverage investment - Align federal policies and
funding to remove barriers to collaboration, leverage funding and increase the accountability and
effectiveness of all levels of government to plan for future growth, including making smart energy
choices such as locally generated renewable energy.
6. Value communities and neighborhoods - Enhance the unique characteristics
of all communities by investing in healthy, safe, and walkable neighborhoods—rural, urban, or
suburban.
3. • H2050 Goal - To develop a Regional Plan
for Sustainable Development. The plan will
include the development of several
scenarios for future growth that represent
different ways of achieving equilibrium
between the goals of EQUITY,
environmental sustainability, and economic
growth in the future development of the
Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan region.
• Equity & Engagement Committee - Required by grant
4. Equity & Engagement Committee
• Working Definition - Equity means all
individuals and communities have full and
equal access to opportunities that enable
them to attain their full potential.
• “Lifting everyone to prosperity;
providing a hand up, versus
giving handouts down.”
5. Why Are Equity Goals/Strategies
Important to Us All?
• Rural Communities – Address retention of youth;
support community development
• Suburban Communities – Poverty is growing
fastest in suburban areas; disconnected youth
• Urban Communities – Areas of concentrated
poverty; core of region (hub of wheel)
• Region – Preparing for future growth and
sustainable development (development that
meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs).
13. What does growing diversity
mean for our region?
• Omaha-Council Bluffs is becoming more diverse
• Growth fueled by people of color
• Youth are at the forefront of this demographic transition
• Poverty remains a persistent barrier
• Region will face skills gap unless educational levels improve
• Lower inequality = stronger growth & economic benefits for all
• Diversity is an economic asset
14. An Equity Framework is a
Strategic Investment Opportunity
• Equity goals build on and uplift resident &
community strengths (‘Everyone Wins’)
• Not a social program – full use of regional assets
• Not charity - proven ROI
• Equity = Economic competitiveness
+ Economic prosperity
McKinsey & Co. (6/09) – Closing racial educational achievement
gap between African-American/Latino and white students, by
1998, would have added $525 billion to U.S. GDP by 2008.
(www.mckinsey.com/insights/social_sector/the_economic_cost_of_the_us_education_gap)
15. Committee Members
•African American Empowerment Network
•Latino Center of the Midlands
•Boys and Girls Club
•No More Empty Pots
•Family Housing Advisory Services
•Douglas County Health Department
•Omaha Public Schools
•inCommon Community Development
•Habitat for Humanity
•Office of Latino/Latin America Studies
•Creighton University
•Eastern Nebraska Community Action Partnership
•Black Men United
•Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless (MACCH)
•Golden Hills Natural Resource District
•Voices for Children
•Family, Inc
•Promise Partners
•Fair Housing Center of Omaha
•Emerging Terrain
•Omaha Housing Authority
16. Committee Accomplishments
• Outreach & Engagement (30 % of workshop
participants/attendees direct result of Equity Committee
outreach) (Organized 3 values forums, 3 workshops, and door
to door campaigns)
• Development of Equity Framework Definition & Goals
• Initial Development of Equity Indicators
• Participation in HUD Sustainable Communities
Leadership Academy
• H2050 Selected for development of Regional Equity Profile
(with PolicyLink & USC Program of Environmental & Regional
Equity)
17. Future Committee Activities
• Develop Omaha-region Equity Profile (July)
• Complete development of Equity Indicators
& identify Best Practice Policies and
Programs for specific policy areas (within
H2050 committee structure – People, Places,
Resources) (May – September)
• Convene Regional Equity Summit
(September/October)
18. Call to Action
• Who’s not here
• Data needs?
• Challenge of facilitating ongoing community
engagement
• Thank you for support
19. Feedback from Federal Agencies
Senior Leadership at various federal agencies
comments on Omaha/Council Bluffs region
regarding applications for funding:
• No comprehensive, regional
development plan.
• Applications did not account for equity.
• Applications did not demonstrate broad,
long-term collaborations required to
address equity going forward
20. The Three Ps
My Promise
• Continue to partner with your staff and vigorously
pursue and encourage federal funding
opportunities where applicable for our region
Your Pledge
• Committed to seeing the region’s development
and prosperity visible to all
Our (O/CB Region) Practice
• Collective consciousness of not just thinking
about equity but its application in planning and
future development
