Anchor Institutions

Can Anchor Organizations Measure Enlightened Self-Interest?

Join us for a free ICIC webinar on June 5
When community engagement strategies are marginalized and not viewed as integral to an organization’s core business, they are not sustainable. They are susceptible to budget cuts and changing leadership agendas. Quantifying the returns from community initiatives will help ensure that those initiatives are in place for the long-term.

Students Create University Report Cards Using Anchor Dashboard

A new video from the Roosevelt Institute|Campus Network invites students to assess their universities' performance as an anchor instiution

As part of the Rethinking Communities’ Initiative, the Roosevelt Institute|Campus Network launched The Anchor Institution Challenge, a nationwide project designed to help students understand their university's impact on surrounding communities. Read more about Students Create University Report Cards Using Anchor Dashboard...

Evergreen Cooperatives Field Study

In its newest Field Guide to Investing in a Regenerative Economy, the Capital Institute outlines Cleveland’s Evergreen model and provides overviews of the three enterprises: Evergreen Cooperative Laundry, Evergreen Energy Solutions, and Green City Growers. 

How to Grow an Equitable Economy through Anchor Institution Strategies

Research director Steve Dubb presented on anchor institution strategies and equitable development for a PolicyLink webinar in April 2014.   Read more about How to Grow an Equitable Economy through Anchor Institution Strategies...

World Business Chicago Launches Program to Strengthen Local Businesses and Boost Economy

World Business Chicago

The City of Chicago and six other anchor institutions have joined the University of Chicago on the newly launched Chicago Anchors for a Strong Economy (CASE) initiative, which will link local businesses to anchor procurement and provide technical assistance to 100 local firms.

Cities at Work: Progressive Local Policies to Rebuild the Middle Class

Joel Rogers and Satya Rhodes-Conway

In a new report from the Center for American Progress, Joel Rogers and Satya Rhodes-Conway of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) outline policies that cities can adopt to become more inclusive and sustainable. The authors espouse democratic organization as a critical component to social equity and wealth creation and highlight the critical linking of anchor procurement strategies and employee ownership, as seen in the Cleveland Model, to strengthen local economies and stabilize communities.

Perspectives and Next Steps in Creating a Healthier Healthcare System

Public Health Law Center

In September 2013, the Institute for a Sustainable Future hosted a Duluth, Minnesota conference for nearly 200 leaders active in healthcare delivery, public health, hospital administration, and community service organizations across the state. This paper builds on key lessons learned at the event and proposes next steps for hospitals to leverage the Affordable Care Act’s requirements for community engagement to improve community health and vitality.

 

A Collaborative, Cross-Sectoral, and Local Approach to Health

Public Health Law Center
Institute for a Sustainable Future

In September 2013, the Institute for a Sustainable Future hosted a Duluth, Minnesota conference for nearly 200 leaders active in healthcare delivery, public health, hospital administration, and community service organizations across the state. This paper builds on key lessons learned at the event and explores how the Affordable Care Act’s requirements for community engagement by hospitals can be directed to improve community health and vitality. It emphasizes how placed-based strategies can improve health outcomes, including linking anchor institutions to local procurement, employment, and housing initiatives. 

New Student Initiative Asks Anchor Institutions to Rethink their Communities

An Interview with Alan Smith of the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network


The Democracy Collaborative recently sat down with Alan Smith of the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network to talk about their new Rethinking Communities Initiative. Inspired by the legacy of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, the Roosevelt Institute promotes the work of progressive economist and social policy thinkers and supports the next generation of leaders as they design solutions to current pressing issues. Their Campus Network is the nation’s largest student policy organization with 115 chapters at colleges and universities in 38 states, working to further progressive ideas, civic leadership, and long-term change

Bon Secours Richmond Health System

As one of the area’s largest employers, Bon Secours Richmond Health System, augments its healthcare services by striving to address social and economic barriers to wellness in the community. To do so, it hired a “healthy neighborhood liaison” to engage Richmond’s East End community as part of their campus plans, and partnered with the City of Richmond and the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority to host a series of public meetings to envision a safer, healthier, and more walkable East End. These efforts have helped spur the construction of new housing and a wellness center, as well as sidewalk and landscaping improvements. In 2011, Bon Secours Richmond partnered with the Virginia Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) to establish an annual business plan awards program, Supporting East End Development (SEED). The program provides up to $10,000 in grant money to individuals looking to expand or start a business in the Church Hill neighborhood. Since the SEED program was established, Bon Secours Richmond has helped support the development of 14 businesses in the East End, including a trash service, coffee shop, a bakery, a hair salon, and a janitorial service.

Creating Jobs by Building Community Wealth

Our research director Steve Dubb is joined by REDF's Carla Javits  for a conversation around "Big Ideas for Job Creation" at the Aspen Institute, focusing on transforming anchor institution procurement to strengthen local economies and using social enterprise to create employment opportunities.

Read more about Creating Jobs by Building Community Wealth...

Cleveland as a Model for Anchor/Community Partnerships

New report highlights the Greater University Circle Initiative

Just released by the Cleveland Foundation, the new report Cleveland's Greater University Circle Initiative: Building a 21st Century City through the Power of Anchor Institution Collaboration provides a thorough overview of a long-term partnership among some of the city's key anchor institutions to foster inclusive, place-based community economic development. With innovative anchor-supported solutions around housing, transit, workforce training, and local procurement, the Greater University Circle Initiative is an effort that's well worth studying by other cities looking to leverage existing institutional assets to revitalize and rebuild their communities.

The Evergreen Cooperatives, one of the most visible pieces of the Initiative, offers a powerful example of the benefits these kinds of integrated anchor stategies can bring to economically marginalized neighborhoods, something this Evergreen worker's comments in the report makes clear:

Time to Act: Investing in the Health of Our Children and Communities

Elaine Arkin, Paula Braverman, Susan Egerter and David Williams
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Commission to Build a Healthier America released a new report that emphasizes the impact that socioeconomic factors, such as poverty, unemployment, housing, and crime, have on overall health outcomes and life expectancy. To address these social determinants, the Commission provides three key recommendations: increase investment in early childhood development, more effectively integrate health into community development, and reorient health professionals and healthcare institutions to invest in community strategies that help people lead healthy lives.