BOOSTING ECONOMIC MOBILITY

The defining characteristic of the American Dream is upward mobility, but new data show that the current generation’s chances of earning more than their parents are declining. In many communities, young people and families face significant barriers to climbing the economic ladder based on the neighborhoods in which they live. At the same time, mayors and other local leaders are looking for new, more effective interventions to address rising income inequality and declining economic mobility, as the largest comprehensive public-opinion survey of mayors and city managers recently showed. Responding to these trends, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Ballmer Group announced a joint initiative in late 2018, backed by an investment of $12 million, to work with 10 U.S. cities over the course of 18 months to identify, pilot, and measure the success of interventions to accelerate economic mobility for residents.

In June 2019, Kristin led the public announcement of the 10 cities selected to participate in the initiative and secured an exclusive in CityLab, the urban-focused site of The Atlantic, to break the news.