Knowledge Center

On April 26-27, 2014, a diverse group of immigrants, activists, advocates, and
allies in North Carolina’s Latino Immigrant Justice Movement came together to talk about how to build better relationships upon a shared commitment to the Latino community, foster unity and trust, and begin developing a broader understanding of what groups and individuals could accomplish together versus separately. This convening summary report shares information about how the convening was organized, how activities were designed, and the ideas that were discussed. English and Spanish versions of the report are available.

The first half of this slide deck outlines research findings around why North Carolinians value public education. This includes their expectations and perceptions of strengths, challenges and opportunities. The second half of the deck focuses on developing an effective messaging framework to communicate the value of maintaining and strengthening North Carolina’s public education system, which is dedicated to serving all students well.

The goal of the Women’s Economic Equity (WEE) Project was to support low-income, rural women to move into jobs that pay the Living Income Standard (LIS). Central to the Foundation’s approach is the role of networks -- connecting available resources rather than creating new organizations -- in building economic opportunity for women. Participating sites were asked to identify employment sectors (e.g., high-tech, manufacturing, and health care) that had living income standard jobs in the designated counties or regions.

This study augments and deepens the North Carolina income poverty report. Household income, which refers to “the sum of all cash income received by [an] individual and/or other family members,” is a crucial and pervasive measure of economic wellbeing. Wealth, however, represents the stock of assets and economic resources, accumulated or inherited, owned by such a household at a particular point in time. Wealth, of course, can replicate itself – producing further income and profit. It is a primary source for consumption and investment as well.

This study, broadly speaking, explores economic distress, challenge, progress and opportunity in North Carolina. It employs decennial U.S. Census data; American Community Survey estimates; state-captured economic, health and educational measures; urban and rural demographic and wealth studies; and a variety of other reports and resources to draw its portraits and preliminary conclusions. It explores changes, particularly over the last three decades, in growth and demography, education, poverty, employment, housing and community development.

The economic and foreclosure crisis has highlighted the alarming gap in wealth and assets between people of color and whites in the United States. Research has shown that the racial wealth gap, which exists independently of the income gap, was 16 cents to the dollar between people of color and whites in 2007, and has since widened significantly due to the recent and ongoing foreclosure crisis. Policymakers have begun to realize that closing the wealth gap is even more important than addressing the income gap as a way to end poverty and create an
equitable society.