Closing the Wealth Gap
To advance the narrative change and community power-building efforts of the Truth & Equity initiative, CCR’s Closing the Wealth Gap project is a groundbreaking study that offers specific policy recommendations and a data dashboard to guide investments in closing critical equity gaps. By addressing Cincinnati’s significant race and place-based homeownership disparity, the initiative proposes comprehensive strategies to increase wealth-building opportunities. This approach, grounded in community voice, aims to uplift marginalized residents by facilitating access to homeownership, which has historically been a key driver of intergenerational wealth transfer. Our approach employs system dynamics modeling based on qualitative and quantitative data analysis and community engagement to develop an Equity Dashboard, which simulates the impacts of policy initiatives for strategic advocacy. This effort not only measures policy and systemic changes towards fostering increased access to social and economic mobility, it also establishes a framework for accountability and advocacy by demonstrating both the social and economic return on key investments for the public good.
The GWU-based team has worked closely with community and elected leaders over the past three years to develop a framework that outlines a plan to align place-based investments that will close specific economic gaps while also improving health and social outcomes.
Turning research to action, the CCR-EI framework provides actionable strategies, measurable goals and an innovative tool to track progress over time.
A cornerstone of these efforts is the creation of neighborhood hubs, which serve as centralized access points for co-located services, including financial institutions, programs, and trained professionals. These hubs address critical service gaps in areas lacking brick-and-mortar institutions.
In keeping with our commitment to translating science into action, the CCR-EI team is working with public and private partners to develop an implementation strategy. While developed to address specific neighborhood needs in Cincinnati, this team looks forward to replicating this process for cities across the nation.
If you would like to discuss the findings of this report, implementation guidance or learn about our methods and tools please contact us at [email protected].