City of Rochester
News Release
Mayor Announces Rochester to Join New Initiative to
Increase Economic Mobility
(Tuesday, June 18, 2019) - Mayor Lovely A. Warren
announced today that Rochester is one of ten American cities selected to
participate in a Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation and Ballmer Group initiative to identify, pilot and measure
interventions to accelerate economic mobility for their residents.
“I am thrilled that Rochester has been chosen to join the
economic mobility initiative,” said Mayor Lovely A. Warren. “There is no more
pressing issue in our community than helping families build a brighter
financial future for their children. I am grateful to Bloomberg Philanthropies,
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ballmer Group and all of our
community partners for the opportunity to develop and test innovative solutions
designed to improve lives. The time has come to close the racial wealth gaps
and create an economy that works for all.”
Over the next 18 months, the City will develop a matched
savings program for income-eligible families to help them weather financial
shocks, build wealth and create economic stability. The program will enable
participants, who must qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, to receive a
cash match for portions of the tax refund that they put into savings, allowing
for payouts during the course of the year and providing a pool of savings to
draw on for emergencies. The Mayor’s Offices of Innovation and Community Wealth
Building has found that financial instability is a major challenge for many
families in Rochester.
“The defining characteristic of the American Dream is
upward mobility,” said the Mayor. “But data shows that the current generation’s
chances of earning more than their parents are declining. Many young people and
families face significant barriers to climbing the economic ladder based on the
neighborhoods in which they live.”
The new national initiative, supported by Bloomberg
Philanthropies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Ballmer Group,
seeks to respond to the strong demand for new, more effective interventions to
address rising income inequality and declining economic mobility. In Bloomberg
Philanthropies’ 2018 American Mayors Survey – the largest comprehensive
public-opinion survey of mayors and city managers – one of their top concerns
raised was the challenge of providing more and better economic opportunities
for all residents.
Rochester was selected through a competitive process that
looked at local commitment to addressing economic mobility, willingness to use
data and evidence to accelerate progress and ability to dedicate a team to
accomplish the initiative’s goals. The overall initiative is supported by a $12
million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation and Ballmer Group.
Over the next 18 months, the City will develop, pilot and
measure the early impacts of a matched savings program. The program will study
the effects of a year-round payment of a portion of participants’ Earned Income
Tax Credit, with a cash match designed to incentivize increased savings. The
City will also work with other participating cities to share lessons and
experiences to further advance the work and build a model for future
collaboration among cities on the topic.
City staff have already begun working with a team of
advisors from Results for America and the Behavioral Insights Team, both
partners in What Works Cities, a Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative that helps
cities confront urgent challenges through data- and evidence-based
decision-making. City staff will deepen their data skills and strengthen their
ability to deliver results to residents with the help of experts from other
What Works Cities partners, including Johns Hopkins University’s Center for
Government Excellence, the Harvard Kennedy School’s Government Performance Lab
and the Sunlight Foundation.
Additionally, Opportunity Insights at Harvard University
is helping City staff draw insights regarding economic mobility in the
community using data from the Opportunity Atlas, an interactive resource
developed in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau.
The other nine cities participating in the economic
mobility initiative are: Albuquerque, NM; Cincinnati, OH; Dayton, OH; Detroit,
MI; Lansing, MI; New Orleans, LA; Newark, NJ; Racine, WI; and Tulsa, OK.
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News Media: For more information, please contact Press
Officer Jessica Alaimo at 428-7135.
About Bloomberg Philanthropies:
Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 510 cities and 129
countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number
of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting
change: Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation and Public Health.
Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s giving,
including his foundation and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg
Associates, a pro bono consultancy that works in cities around the world. In
2018, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $767 million. For more information,
please visit bloomberg.org or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.
About Ballmer Group:
Ballmer Group works to improve economic mobility for
children and families in the United States who are disproportionately likely to
remain in poverty. They believe that building pathways to opportunity requires
broad, systemic change. They invest in many stages of a child’s life by
supporting strong community partnerships among public, private, and nonprofit
organizations that use data to more effectively serve families. Ballmer Group
was co-founded by philanthropist and civic activist Connie Ballmer and her
husband Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft, founder of USAFacts, and
chairman of the Los Angeles Clippers. Learn more at www.ballmergroup.org and on
Twitter @BallmerGroup.
About Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy,
productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s
health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and
extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all
people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the
opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington,
the foundation is led by CEO Susan Desmond-Hellmann and Co-chair William H.
Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.