Local Data as an Equity Tool: How Data Intermediaries and Backbone Organizations Use Data to Improve Service Provision and Center Community Voices

Data intermediaries and backbone organizations, two types of place-based organizations, play a key role in helping their communities attain equitable outcomes, which they can do by building local data capacity, creating data-driven partnerships, and centering community voices. To better understand h...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2021
Main Authors: Walker, Fay, Torres Rodriguez, Sonia, O'Brien, Mica
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Activists
Intelligence
Urban Institute
Online Access:Request full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Data intermediaries and backbone organizations, two types of place-based organizations, play a key role in helping their communities attain equitable outcomes, which they can do by building local data capacity, creating data-driven partnerships, and centering community voices. To better understand how backbone organizations and data intermediaries (two types of place-based organizations) have used data to improve service provision and center community voices during the pandemic, we interviewed organizations affiliated with the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, Promise Neighborhoods, and StriveTogether to identify strategies and key practices place-based organizations can use to build local data capacity with their partners, use local data to improve service provision and day-to-day operations, and amplify community voices. Drawing on findings from these interviews, this brief outlines three steps to building local data capacity and using data to build racial equity: enhancing data access for community change, building local data infrastructure for responsive services, and using data to amplify community voices through research design, data collection, and dissemination.