As the struggles of refugees and immigrants drudges on, a number of cities across the US are gathering funding for their legal defense. One strategy, a legal counsel program called New York Family Immigrant Unity Proj...

Creating and deploying exhibitions in response to real-time events can allow museums to play a larger role in community engagement and education. By developing so-called rapid-response exhibits, museums can respond mo...

Partnerships between those incarcerated and volunteers from the outside are crucial. Collaborations—such as the one between the Wall City magazine, the UC Berkeley, and the San Quentin Journalism Guild—make it possibl...

Sherriff’s offices can provide resources and encourage underserved communities and communities struck hard by disinvestment to grow their civic capacity. In Alameda County, California, the county Sherriff’s office ope...

In this excerpt from Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt’s book, Biased, the author details the role surveillance and apps like Nextdoor play in perpetuating and disrupting discriminatory housing policies, racism, and segregation ...

A membership organization called Pipeline Angels helps women and nonbinary femme entrepreneurs find investors and start their own businesses. Pipeline Angels addresses the investment disparities between businesses own...

Formerly incarcerated individuals, community leaders, and members of San Francisco’s District Attorney’s office, have joined forces to create a collaborative advisory board. The board meets to share re-entry challenge...

When big box stores shutter, communities can suffer: vacant buildings deter investment and sites can encourage vandalism and other crimes. Because demolishing the stores can prove prohibitively expensive, three cities...

Using an algorithm designed by Code for America, the city of San Francisco has been able to identify and start the process of expunging almost 10,000 marijuana-related convictions. While the initiative has faced some ...

Art inspires innovation. At the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the annual Black Creativity festival focuses both on championing the voices of African-American artists, innovators, and community leaders, an...

In an initiative to level the playing people for women- and minority-owned businesses, cities and businesses work together to evaluate and address racial and gender disparities in the private sector. By performing stu...

New grassroots efforts often struggle to get off the ground due to lack of funding. In Baltimore, a group called CLLCTIVLY aims to fix this problem for black-led non-profit organizations by offering a $1,000 prize eve...

Organizations across the country work to make sustainable solar energy accessible for low-income communities. Through creative financing models that allow community members to maintain ownership over their neighborhoo...

Riverside Correction Facility in Philadelphia has implemented a program that allows incarcerated new mothers the opportunity to both learn about the benefits of maintaining breast milk supply, and also provide it for ...

In Minneapolis, they've dealt with one of the largest encampments of people experiencing homelessness - not by "clearing" it as many other cities do, but by collaborating with local organizations to help residents tra...

A nonprofit grocery store in Washington, D.C. brings fresh, affordable food to regional food deserts. Through community engagement, public partnerships, and the willingness to learn from failure, Good Food Markets bri...

In western New York, local bike advocacy groups have found power in numbers, banding together to gradually convince their governments to expand cycling access and communities to change their attitudes toward cyclists....

Public libraries are increasingly using their positions as accessible centers for information to address homelessness and mental health issues - in San Francisco, a team of Health and Safety Associates have helped pla...

The collection and analysis of data is a crucial first step in revealing and addressing areas of racial inequality in cities. Using the methodology of a 2015 New York City program designed to study metrics of inequali...

Successful public private collaborations promote civic innovations that add value to communities. Programs that bring together nonprofits, tech start-ups, universities, and city leaders are helping Birmingham, Alabama...

In Los Angeles, The Bin gives homeless people a chance to store their valuables. “If I didn’t have this bin, I’d have to get rid of most of my stuff. These bins are really great to have.” Across the nation, other citi...

With the aim of providing a space for congregations without a space to worship, Church Space created “co-churching” spaces that offer a room, lighting, musical instruments, a PA system and other amenities for rent. A ...

Philadelphia looks to Oklahoma and New York City to close the achievement gap for kids from low-income areas. Both Oklahoma and NYC have implemented universal Pre-Kindergarten programs and have increased kindergarten ...

In Detroit, a new collective is bringing together affordable childcare and co-working in one space. Families purchase memberships priced per household, instead of through the traditional per child model -- parents ben...

In Chicago, where seasons as well as subpar local investment in the South Side limit children’s ability to play outside year-round, the new Pullman Community Center is a huge improvement. Beyond fostering recreational...