In 2016, over 626,000 individuals in the U.S. were released from state or federal prisons. Often released with nothing more than a bus ticket and a check for less than $200, the formerly incarcerated face serious economic challenges. They struggle securing necessities such as housing and transportation, let alone finding employment. Employers are often unwilling to hire individuals with criminal records and the jobs that are available often pay them lower wages. Read More

“Eds and meds” are the conventional anchors—and remain the focus of most anchor initiatives. But a few arts and culture organizations, such as the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, are beginning to change the narrative, claiming seats at anchor collaboration tables in their cities and begging the question—why aren’t more arts and culture organizations adopting anchor strategies? Read More

This blog was first published by Johns Hopkins' 21st Century Cities Initiative, and describes anchor institutions, their potential roles in reducing economic and neighborhood inequality, and examples of partnerships between anchor institutions and local government. Read More

With Small Business Saturday coming up, our CEO, Steve Grossman, explains how and why we celebrate small business all year long. Read More

Yolanda Jones gets to the office at Yolanda’s Construction Administration & Traffic Control (YCAT-C), which she founded in 2010, every day at 6 a.m. There’s a lot happening. YCAT-C has $6 million in contracts earned or lined up for this year, its biggest year so far. She’s got something in the pipeline that could add another $10 million in annual revenues and perhaps 20 more employees in the next year. And, oh, NBA star LeBron James gave Jones a shout-out recently on Facebook and Twitter. She won a small business contest he held last fall. Read More