New Growth Inc

THIS EDA INVESTMENT FUNDS THE UNITING COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICTS/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS IN PARTNERSHIPS FOR TRANSFORMATIVE IMPACT TO ADVANCE EQUITY IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROJECT, TO FOCUS ON INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH TO ENSURE THAT PEOPLE OF COLOR, WOMEN AND NEGLECTED GEOGRAPHIES ARE A CORE PART OF REGIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH AND PROSPERITY. THE NEW GROWTH INNOVATIVE NETWORK (NGIN) WILL UNITE COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS (CBOS), ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICTS (EDDS), AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS (EDOS) TO DELIVER TRANSFORMATIONAL IMPACT AND ADVANCE EQUITY IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. NGIN WILL PARTNER WITH THE LOCAL INITIATIVES SUPPORT CORPORATION (LISC) AND THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (IEDC) TO BUILD CAPACITY, PROVIDE TOOLS, AND PROVIDE DIRECT SUPPORT TO CBOS, EDOS, AND EDDS THAT SERVE AND REPRESENT THE UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS ACROSS THE EDA'S SIX REGIONS. THIS PROJECT WILL ADDRESS THE BARRIERS KEEPING CBOS AND EDDS/EDOS FROM BUILDING MEANINGFUL PARTNERSHIPS, BUILD THE CAPACITY OF ORGANIZATIONS SERVING UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS AND COMMUNITIES, LEAD TO MORE SUCCESSFUL FUNDING APPLICATIONS FROM ORGANIZATIONS THAT SERVE THE UNDERSERVED AND ENHANCE THE ABILITY OF EDA GRANTEES TO IMPACT UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS AND COMMUNITIES.

IN RESPONSE TO THE ECONOMIC INJURY OF COVID-19, BUILD A NATIONAL COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE AND WORK WITH SIX EDDS TO IMPLEMENT INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH STRATEGIES FOR A DURABLE ECONOMIC RECOVERY.

DESCRIPTION:THIS AGREEMENT PROVIDES FUNDING TO NEW GROWTH INNOVATION NETWORK (PROVIDER/RECIPIENT) TO PROVIDE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND RELATED SUPPORT TO UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES. THE PROVIDER WILL DELIVER DATA COMPETENCY RELATED TRAINING, EDUCATION, AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO HELP UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES DEVELOP DATA COMPETENCY, EVALUATION CAPABILITY, AND REPORTING CAPACITY WITHIN THEIR ORGANIZATIONS. THESE CAPACITY BUILDING ACTIVITIES WILL IMPROVE THE UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES' APPLICATION QUALITY TO EPA GRANTS AND STATE REVOLVING FUNDS, PARTICULARLY FOR APPLICATION SECTIONS RELATED TO DATA COLLECTION, MANAGEMENT, AND REPORTING PLANS. ADDITIONALLY, THIS AGREEMENT PROVIDES TRAINING TO IMPROVE THE POST AWARD REPORTING ACCURACY FOR COMMUNITIES WHO HAVE RECEIVED AN EPA GRANT BUT MAY LACK THE NECESSARY DATA RELATED COMPETENCY OR EVALUATION CAPACITY TO FULFILL THE REPORTING AND EVALUATION REQUIREMENTS. THIS INCREASED PERFORMANCE RELATING TO DATA COMPETENCY AND REPORTING WILL ENABLE UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES TO BETTER COMMUNICATE HOW AWARDED EPA GRANTS IMPROVED THE OUTCOMES RELATED TO ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH. FINALLY, THE PROVIDER WILL DEVELOP AND NATIONALLY DISSEMINATE A 'PLAYBOOK' THAT SUMMARIZES INSIGHTS FROM THE PROVIDED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.ACTIVITIES:THE ACTIVITIES INCLUDE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND LISTENING, OUTREACH AND CAPACITY BUILDING VIA WORKSHOPS ON PROGRAM EVALUATION AND EVIDENCE-BUILDING, TRAINING TAILORED TO THE DATA CAPACITY NEEDS OF UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES, DEVELOPING COMMUNITY-LED DATA EQUITY PLANS/PROJECTS, AND A PLAYBOOK DISSEMINATED NATIONWIDE THAT SUMMARIZES INSIGHTS FROM THE PROVIDED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.SUBRECIPIENT:NO SUBAWARDS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS ASSISTANCE AGREEMENT.OUTCOMES:THE ANTICIPATED DELIVERABLES INCLUDE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND LISTENING SESSIONS WITH UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES, TAILORED TRAINING FOR ~30 COMMUNITIES/COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, 6 COMMUNITY-LED DATA EQUITY PLANS/PROJECTS DEVELOPED, AND A SINGLE PLAYBOOK CREATED AND DISSEMINATED THAT SUMMARIZES INSIGHTS FROM THE PROVIDED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE THAT CAN HELP UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES WHO DID NOT PARTICIPATE DIRECTLY IN THIS TRAINING, OR REQUIRE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AFTER THE ASSISTANCE AGREEMENT CONCLUDES. THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES INCLUDE MEMBERS OF UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES BECOMING LOCAL DATA CHAMPIONS THAT ARE CAPABLE OF ADVOCATING FOR DATA EQUITY AND IMPLEMENTING DATA PLANS FOR EPA GRANT REPORTING, INCREASED DATA FLUENCY AND CAPACITY IN SMALL AND/OR UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES, AND INCREASED BENEFICIARY PREPAREDNESS WITH RESPECT TO WITH DATA, REPORTING, AND EVIDENCE-BUILDING EXPERTISE WHEN APPLYING AND/OR MEETING THE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR EPA GRANTS. THE INTENDED BENEFICIARIES INCLUDE UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, PARTICULARLY THOSE COMMUNITIES NOT LOCATED IN AN AREA ALREADY BEING SERVED BY ANOTHER PREPARED PROVIDER.

EAGER: PBI: ASSESSING EQUITABLE OUTCOMES OF PLACE-BASED INNOVATION THROUGH NSF ENGINES -INNOVATION-BASED ECONOMIC GROWTH HAS HISTORICALLY CREATED OR EXACERBATED SOCIETAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND ECONOMIC INEQUALITIES. AS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INCREASES INVESTMENT INTO PLACE-BASED INNOVATION, IT IS CRITICAL TO UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS BY WHICH IMPACTS ARE (OR ARE NOT) EQUITABLE. THIS RESEARCH WILL DEEPEN OUR KNOWLEDGE ON HOW TO MEASURE AND ACCOUNT FOR EQUITABLE OUTCOMES AND PROCESSES IN REGIONAL INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS, SUCH AS THE NSF ENGINES. USING COMMUNITY-BASED RESEARCH METHODS, THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL IDENTIFY EQUITY BENCHMARKS BY INVESTIGATING THE WORK NSF ENGINES ARE DOING TO PRIORITIZE EQUITY, HOW THEIR REGIONAL COMMUNITY CONCEPTUALIZES THE LOCALIZED BENEFITS, AND ANALYZING RELEVANT NATIONAL AND REGIONAL DATASETS. THE PROJECT WILL CULMINATE WITH AN EQUITY ACTION GUIDE WHICH WILL INCLUDE EFFECTIVE PROCESSES, LOCAL METRICS, NATIONAL BENCHMARKS, AND A SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL TO HELP NSF ENGINES AND OTHER SIMILAR PROGRAMS ADVANCE EQUITY IN PLACE-BASED INNOVATION. THE PROJECT TEAM WILL ACCOMPLISH THIS WORK THROUGH A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF THREE REPRESENTATIVE NSF ENGINES. OUR PRIMARY RESEARCH GOAL IS TO IDENTIFY METRICS AND BENCHMARKS OF A REGIONAL INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM RELATED TO EQUITY (PRIMARY RQ1: WHAT ARE THE METRICS AND BENCHMARKS OF EQUITY IN REGIONAL INNOVATION ECOSYSTEMS, SUCH AS THE NSF ENGINES? PRIMARY RQ2: HOW DOES A COMMUNITY-BASED RESEARCH APPROACH FACILITATE EQUITABLE ENGAGEMENT INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF METRICS AND BENCHMARKS?). AN ADDITIONAL FOUR PRELIMINARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS PROVIDE THE NECESSARY DATA FOR THE TWO PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONS. USING COMMUNITY-BASED RESEARCH METHODS, DATA COLLECTION WILL INCLUDE PARTICIPANT-CENTERED SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS, COMMUNITY FOCUS GROUPS, FEDERAL, REGIONAL, AND PROGRAMMATIC DATA, AND WILL BE ANALYZED USING MIXED METHODS, INCLUDING A SOCIOECONOMIC SPATIAL ANALYSIS. THIS RESEARCH WILL CREATE STEPPINGSTONES BETWEEN THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS OF EQUITY (E.G., INTERSECTIONALITY, DECOLONIZATION, COMMUNITY WEALTH BUILDING) AND THE TANGIBLE EXECUTION OF PLACE-BASED INNOVATION PROGRAMS. THE TRANSLATION OF THEORY TO PRACTICE IN REAL TIME WILL INFORM NSF ENGINES AND OTHER FEDERALLY FUNDED PROGRAMS TO ENSURE PROGRAMS ARE REDUCING INEQUALITIES. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.