The Boston Indicators Project: “Measuring What We Value – a Project of Greater Boston’s Civic Community” Learning Exchange: Portland OR September 27, 2010

The Journey from Data to Impact Data: Stakeholder Selection of Indicators Goals Benchmarks Systemic Analysis Storytelling Reports/Engagement Shared Understanding Agreement on Solutions Shared Agenda Strategic Alignment Collaborative Action Impact w w w. b o s t o n i n d i c a t o r s. o r g

The Boston Indicators Project A partnership of the Boston Foundation, City of Boston and Metropolitan Area Planning Council ITS GOALS ARE TO: 1. Democratize access to data & information; 2. Foster informed public discourse; 3. Track progress on shared civic goals. w w w. b o s t o n i n d i c a t o r s. o r g

The Boston Foundation Information. Innovation. Impact. MISSION As Greater Boston’s community foundation, the Boston Foundation devotes its resources to building and sustaining a vital, prosperous city and region, where justice and opportunity are extended to everyone. We fulfill this mission in 3 principal ways: 1.Making grants to nonprofit organizations and designing special funding initiatives to address this community’s critical challenges; 2.Working in partnership with donors and other funders to achieve high-impact philanthropy; and 3.Serving as a civic hub and center of information, where ideas are shared, levers for change are identified, and common agendas for the future are developed. w w w. b o s t o n i n d i c a t o r s. o r g

The Project has a long time frame— through 2030—and two tracks: 1) Data 2) Civic Agenda The Project has a long time frame— through 2030—and two tracks: 1) Data 2) Civic Agenda Long Term Vision Indicators Data & Reports …updated website, report every two years to measure progress towards a vision for deepening data, creating tools for access to data, training and education Civic Agenda civic leadership, deliberation, and action on a high-leverage civic agenda Benchmarks aligned to vision for 2030 Project Launch Identifying indicators framework 1 st Report The Wisdom of Our Choices

DATA TRACK: A comprehensive framework – 10 sectors, 6 “cross-cuts” PRIMARY SECTORS 1.Civic Vitality 2.Arts 3.Economy 4.Education 5.Environment 6.Health 7.Housing 8.Safety 9.Technology 10.Transportation CROSS-CUTS: Children & Youth Boston Neighborhoods Racial/Ethnic Disparities Environmental Sustainability Economic Competitiveness Fiscal Health w w w. b o s t o n i n d i c a t o r s. o r g

1: DATA TRACK: Goals and measures for each sector tracked through a synthesis of reliable sources w w w. b o s t o n i n d i c a t o r s. o r g 10 Sectors, 70 Goals, 150 Indicators SOURCES: Public, Private & Nonprofit Data Academic Research Findings Periodical Coverage

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Sub- neighborhood Neighborhood Municipal Municipal Sub-region State(s) Physical and social characteristics National Geography Geography New England Regional PMSA PopulationCharacteristics NESTED DATA

LONG-TERM IMPACT CONTEXT DESIRED END STATE ANNUAL STRATEGY SCORECARD: ARTS STRATEGY OBJECTIVE: Enhance civic and cultural vibrancy in Greater Boston STRATEGY: Strengthen and celebrate the region’s diverse audiences, artists and nonprofit cultural organizations 45001,000# Orgs in Mass CDP 30TBD Arts Capitalization Fund, # NPO’s In Progress Sustainable Orgs. Est. Advocacy & Policy: MAASH MassCreative ACTUAL (2010) BASE (2009) GOAL (2014) ArtsBoston.org Cultural Org’s Listed Monthly Visitors Audience profiles 60 TBD K TBD Schools &neighbor-hoods Capacity & Support:Orgs, Artists, Audiences BPS Arts Ed. Fund ($)$700K$550K Neighborhood Arts Programming ???? Chinatown, Rox. Pilot 2010 STATUS PROGRAMMATIC All (Greater Boston) 2.6M 2.4M 791K 7.4M 14.8M 1.6M --paid --free --student TBD 1.2M 701K 170K 1.3M 1.9M 341K Reg’l MarketbasketNeigh. Marketbasket TBD --FT --PT --IC , ,649 5,586 TBD , ,649 5,586 TBD Actual (FY09) n=89 Base (FY08) n=152 Goal (2014) Actual (FY09) n=89 Base (FY08) n=152 Goal (2014) Actual (FY09) Base (FY08) Goal (2014) Status % Achieving Fiscal Health TBD Atten- dance Artist Emply.

2: CIVIC AGENDA TRACK  Stakeholder and expert convenings to surface trends, accomplishments and remaining challenges  Provocative biennial Indicators Reports  A “Civic Agenda” with numerical goals  Forums and briefings  Public discourse GOAL: Shared understanding of Boston’s key trends, challenges & opportunities as a key to aligning strategies and resources to achieve major goals w w w. b o s t o n i n d i c a t o r s. o r g

Administrative Overview Longevity: 1997 – Intensive engagement in development of framework prior to1st report in 2000; NOW - refreshed website, biennial reports based on sector and other convenings to identify trends and themes, w/ other occasional and regular short reports Staffing: Currently 2; never more than 3.75 Budget: $250,000 - $450,000/year ($400,000 from the Boston Foundation currently), with partners Organization: Special initiative within with Boston Foundation with MULTIPLE partners Governance: Focus on content, collaboration and engagement, with blurred institutional “ownership” (Leadership Group for content advice)

Success Factors Ongoing support from the Boston Foundation -- with encouragement to be creative and provocative (independent analysis and perspective) Strong internal collaboration at key times (production of biennial reports, for example) Strong external collaboration, such as long-time partnership with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and relationships with data providers Both/And approach to indicators selection Respect for and broad sense of shared mission and ownership by stakeholders, participants, experts, public officials

Thank you.