‘Can you put down your mission and plug into mine?’ How place-based initiatives leverage collaborations with academic institutions to enhance their ABCD and CBR potential

Place-Based Initiatives (PBIs) involve efforts to mobilise and coordinate local resources, services and expertise across multiple organisations and sectors in order to strengthen the social, structural, physical and economic conditions of historically disinvested neighbourhoods. While promising, these initiatives have had some documented challenges, and some are leveraging partnerships with academic institutions to address those challenges. In this article, we explore perspectives of leaders and staff from three PBI organisations in Charlotte, NC to better understand the benefits of PBI-academic partnerships and the conditions under which they are most effective. Thematic analysis of 23 semi-structured interviews revealed that PBIs leverage partnerships with academic institutions to accomplish two key goals. First, these partnerships stimulate asset- based community development (ABCD) by connecting community organisations and neighbourhood residents with academic resources and by strengthening PBI service delivery. Second, some partnerships give rise to community-based research efforts that help address external accountability challenges and inform PBI programming. The findings also illuminated several pitfalls in academic-PBI partnerships, sometimes rooted in conflicting priorities and approaches of academic researchers and non-profit practitioners. Finally, insights delineate key recommendations for improving PBI-academic collaborations, including countering academic exploitation by plugging into PBIs’ mission and respecting PBI expertise

An Exploratory Study of Digital Inequities and Work in the Redevelopment of a Southeastern American City

Nearly 6 million workers support the multi-billion-dollar digital economy as one of the fastest-growing sectors in the U.S. labor market. Middle-skill jobs in the digital economy sector that pay higher wages and do not require a bachelor’s degree are underrepresented people of intersectional marginalized identities. This exploratory study builds upon previous research on digital inequities by examining the digital economy values, behavior, and interests of a small sample of residents in an area of Charlotte, North Carolina with known digital, social, and economic inequities. Analyses included descriptive and bivariate statistics. Given the exploratory nature of the study, no causal inferences are made, however, preliminary findings suggest a need for further research on digital skills training that addresses the intersectional barriers experienced in marginalized communities, and the need for place-based interventions that leverage localized policies in the areas of affordable housing, workforce development, and economic development. Implications and limitations are discussed

An Exploratory Study of Digital Inequities and Work in the Redevelopment of a Southeastern American City

Nearly 6 million workers support the multi-billion-dollar digital economy as one of the fastest-growing sectors in the U.S. labor market. Middle-skill jobs in the digital economy sector that pay higher wages and do not require a bachelor’s degree are underrepresented people of intersectional marginalized identities. This exploratory study builds upon previous research on digital inequities by examining the digital economy values, behavior, and interests of a small sample of residents in an area of Charlotte, North Carolina with known digital, social, and economic inequities. Analyses included descriptive and bivariate statistics. Given the exploratory nature of the study, no causal inferences are made, however, preliminary findings suggest a need for further research on digital skills training that addresses the intersectional barriers experienced in marginalized communities, and the need for place-based interventions that leverage localized policies in the areas of affordable housing, workforce development, and economic development. Implications and limitations are discussed