Focusing on social capital’s impact on job acquisition may reshape the current way nonprofits and local governments approach employment assistance. By refocusing the problem not just on how to connect job seekers and potential employers, organizations can instead look to build relationships that will open doors for employment today and in the future.
Local governments across North Carolina adopt resolutions committing to measures of sustainability and reducing carbon emissions, but western North Carolina often leads the way. Watch our PBS NC ncIMPACT Town Hall series episode on this topic by clicking the link at the end of the blog.
North Carolina lawmakers set a goal of 2 million North Carolinians with a post-secondary degree or credential by 2030. Achieving this goal will keep the state economically competitive with an educated workforce, as well as improve economic outcomes for those with a credential. Education institutions, workforce development boards, and employers are implementing programs designed to help the state achieve this goal. Watch our PBS NC ncIMPACT Town Hall series episode on this topic by clicking the link at the end of the blog.
The bipartisan HB664 was signed into law in 2019 to set an official goal of 2 million residents ages 25 to 44 with a postsecondary degree or credential by 2030. To support this goal, the ncIMPACT Initiative produced a National Scan of Postsecondary Attainment Practices because replicating and adapting innovative and effective practices from other communities provides a way to “flatten the learning curve” and accelerate progress.
Since March of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to radically remake the economic landscape of North Carolina and beyond. While local governments work to rebuild, rework, and retool existing systems and services to meet this new environment, state leaders in North Carolina are seeking to learn from the lessons of the pandemic as they chart a course for the future.
In the past 5 years, Hurricanes Matthew and Florence caused massive amounts of damage in southeast North Carolina lasting for years beyond landfall. Municipalities and education institutions in the region are implementing measures to improve their resiliency in anticipation of future storm events. Watch our PBS NC ncIMPACT Town Hall series episode on this topic by clicking the link at the end of the blog.
Left unattended, social capital or the lack thereof has the ability to reproduce existing inequities. It also points to the importance of addressing the systemic problems that have created these inequities. However, if social capital investments are managed correctly, they can promote equity and address historic and systemic barriers to accessing social capital.
The affordable housing issue is more complicated than finding a home. Recent studies highlight the link between a lack of safe, affordable housing and the impact that substandard housing has on residents’ health, particularly asthma cases in young children. North Carolina faces a shortage of affordable housing, so many North Carolinians live in substandard housing that impacts their wellbeing. A Greensboro community seeks innovative ways to bring community partners together to address these challenges. Watch our PBS NC ncIMPACT Town Hall series episode on this topic by clicking the link at the end of the blog.
Read the full press release
The Opioid Response Project launched in 2018 and applied the Collective Impact Model to support local collaboratives in efforts to mitigate the opioid epidemic in their communities. The Opioid Response Project local teams all reported improvements in their ability to collaborate and developed action plans with strategies ranging from public information campaigns to post-overdose response teams, which they implemented.
