Today, we join the City of Asheville’s Equity and Inclusion Director Kimberlee Archie and IT Director Jonathan Feldman to discuss the city's work on embedding equity into its data work. We'll also talk about how the work has pivoted after the George Floyd protests, ultimately culminating in the city's Reparations Declaration.

During the holidays, food drives and charitable giving campaigns raise awareness of food insecurity, but people experience disruptions in access to healthy food year round. New research by Dr. Kristin Mmari (https://www.jhsph.edu/faculty/directory/profile/1541/kristin-mmari) and colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Public Health (https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/issue/risks-adolescent-health) reveals that some adolescents engage in risky behavior to get access to food or...

During the holidays, food drives and charitable giving campaigns raise awareness of food insecurity, but people experience disruptions in access to healthy food year round. New research by Dr. Kristin Mmari (https://www.jhsph.edu/faculty/directory/profile/1541/kristin-mmari) and colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Public Health (https://americanhealth.jhu.edu/issue/risks-adolescent-health) reveals that some adolescents engage in risky behavior to get access to food or...

When we thinking of measuring outcomes in education, we often think of test scores as the ultimate indicator. But a team of practitioners and researchers in Baltimore City are working together to use a science-based method to identify and implement incremental changes, and to empower teachers, school leaders and others to understand and use multiple layers of data in their day-to-day work. On this episode of Data Points we speak with Jarrod Bolte...

When we thinking of measuring outcomes in education, we often think of test scores as the ultimate indicator. But a team of practitioners and researchers in Baltimore City are working together to use a science-based method to identify and implement incremental changes, and to empower teachers, school leaders and others to understand and use multiple layers of data in their day-to-day work. On this episode of Data Points we speak with Jarrod Bolte...

At GovEx, a lot of our work is focused on cities. But counties play a crucial role in using data to improve public outcomes as well. From health to elections and justice programming, counties provide critical services to people across the US. To explore these often overlooked stakeholders in government data work, we are diving deep through a conversation with two represenatives from NACo (https://www.naco.org/), the National Assocation of Counties. In this episode, we talked with Natalie...

At GovEx, a lot of our work is focused on cities. But counties play a crucial role in using data to improve public outcomes as well. From health to elections and justice programming, counties provide critical services to people across the US. To explore these often overlooked stakeholders in government data work, we are diving deep through a conversation with two represenatives from NACo (https://www.naco.org/), the National Assocation of Counties. In this episode, we talked with Natalie...

Algorithms are a growing part of government work. They play a part in items ranging from traffic light decisions to criminal sentencing and a variety of topics in between. However, there is not a consistent way to think about algorithms as a public sector employee, leading to a wide range of usage. GovEx and a few partners set out to change that through the creation of the Ethics and Algorithms Toolkit (https://ethicstoolkit.ai/). In this episode, we talk with Joy Bonaguro, former Chief Data...

Algorithms are a growing part of government work. They play a part in items ranging from traffic light decisions to criminal sentencing and a variety of topics in between. However, there is not a consistent way to think about algorithms as a public sector employee, leading to a wide range of usage. GovEx and a few partners set out to change that through the creation of the Ethics and Algorithms Toolkit (https://ethicstoolkit.ai/). In this episode, we talk with Joy Bonaguro, former Chief Data...

Being a Smart City is a new hot goal for cities. From Singapore to Amsterdam and anywhere in between, cities are trying to become smarter and implementing projects that include "smart city" components. But what does it mean? What makes a city smart and what components make a project relevant for smart cities? Because of the variety of concepts and definitions (check out the Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_city) for a long list of possibilities) we take a deeper look at...

Being a Smart City is a new hot goal for cities. From Singapore to Amsterdam and anywhere in between, cities are trying to become smarter and implementing projects that include "smart city" components. But what does it mean? What makes a city smart and what components make a project relevant for smart cities? Because of the variety of concepts and definitions (check out the Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_city) for a long list of possibilities) we take a deeper look at...

Racial equity is a challenge cities across America are grappling with on a daily basis. In this episode, we will take a deep dive into the innovative and data-driven approach which Grand Rapids, Michigan is taking to meet this complex issue head on. Over the past six months, GovEx, through What Works Cities (http://whatworkscities.org), has been supporting Grand Rapids' efforts to increase racial equity by improving data management practices and bringing data and evidence into the...

Racial equity is a challenge cities across America are grappling with on a daily basis. In this episode, we will take a deep dive into the innovative and data-driven approach which Grand Rapids, Michigan is taking to meet this complex issue head on. Over the past six months, GovEx, through What Works Cities (http://whatworkscities.org), has been supporting Grand Rapids' efforts to increase racial equity by improving data management practices and bringing data and evidence into the...

Enabling more use of public data is a key challenge for cities across the country. This week, we will be talking with our partners from the Sunlight Foundation about their efforts to improve Tactical Data Engagement (http://sunlightfoundation.com/tde). For this episode, we’re joined by Stephen Larrick (https://sunlightfoundation.com/about/team/slarrick/), Open Cities Director at Sunlight. Stephen leads all city-focused work for Sunlight, including work we've done together on open data through...

Enabling more use of public data is a key challenge for cities across the country. This week, we will be talking with our partners from the Sunlight Foundation about their efforts to improve Tactical Data Engagement (http://sunlightfoundation.com/tde). For this episode, we’re joined by Stephen Larrick (https://sunlightfoundation.com/about/team/slarrick/), Open Cities Director at Sunlight. Stephen leads all city-focused work for Sunlight, including work we've done together on open data through...

About two years ago, Tempe, Arizona’s mayor and council committed to moving towards more transparent and data informed decision making. Since that time, the city has passed an open data policy, developed an active open data program, created Tempe Accelerates — a regular City Manager led, data focused strategy session that’s open to the public — and launched a new tool for performance based budgeting. Collectively, it all represents quite a bit of change in the way that Tempe decisions are...

About two years ago, Tempe, Arizona’s mayor and council committed to moving towards more transparent and data informed decision making. Since that time, the city has passed an open data policy, developed an active open data program, created Tempe Accelerates — a regular City Manager led, data focused strategy session that’s open to the public — and launched a new tool for performance based budgeting. Collectively, it all represents quite a bit of change in the way that Tempe decisions are...

Happy birthday to us! As GovEx turns three, Eric and Sharon (who have both been around since its beginning) take a quick look back at the top highlights over the years, including the first What Works Cities (whatworkscities.org) Summit, growing from two people with no office space to a team of 25 working in over 100 cities around the world, and we also peer into the future to give you some insights on what's next for GovEx.

Happy birthday to us! As GovEx turns three, Eric and Sharon (who have both been around since its beginning) take a quick look back at the top highlights over the years, including the first What Works Cities (whatworkscities.org) Summit, growing from two people with no office space to a team of 25 working in over 100 cities around the world, and we also peer into the future to give you some insights on what's next for GovEx.

This week we’re starting a mini-series on data and culture change. We will be taking a look at several different approaches to building a culture of data use with city partners from around the country. For this episode, we’re joined by Josh Edwards of Durham, NC. Josh is the Strategic Plan (http://durhamnc.gov/183/Strategic-Plan) Director in the budget department and also the director of the city’s Innovation Team (http://durhamnc.gov/3238/Innovation-Team). Josh oversees a variety of projects...