PolicyLink

PolicyLink (www.policylink.org) is a national research and advocacy institute advancing economic and social equity by Lifting Up What Works. Founded in 1999, PolicyLink helps create sustainable communities of opportunity that offer access to quality jobs, affordable housing, good schools, affordable transportation, and healthy food. The organization is based in Oakland (Calif.), with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and New Orleans. In 2010 PolicyLink has launched the Promise Neighborhoods Institute at PolicyLink - an independent, nonprofit, foundation-supported resource to assist communities through the initiative's application and implementation process. The Promise Neighborhoods Institute at PolicyLink offers valuable tools and strategies to help nonprofits, community leaders, government officials, and grassroots organizations in poor areas craft a successful proposal. Through technical support for planning, coalition building, needs assessments, and many more essentials, the Institute will help urban, suburban, rural, and tribal communities conceptualize, design, and implement a Promise Neighborhoods model that fits the needs and priorities of their constituents. Inspired by the comprehensive anti-poverty efforts of the Harlem Children's Zone, the federal Promise Neighborhoods program will support communities efforts to build "effective schools and strong systems of support to children and youth in poverty and, thus, meet their health, social services, and educational needs," according to the Obama Administration. The Promise Neighborhoods initiative includes $10 million in competitive planning grants to help design a pipeline of social, educational, and health supports in poor communities across America. Once chosen, 20 communities will receive up to $500,000 each to design their own initiatives, programs and services that expand access to quality education, healthcare, and other vital needs in their communities.