Greater Rochester Environmental Community Hub

As a new method of connecting people and research for action, ACT Rochester is excited to share that we’ve added a listing for our organization on the Greater Rochester Environmental Community Hub. This regional resource—created by Rochester Ecology Partners as part of their Greater Rochester Environmental Organization Community Analysis project—serves as a tool that connects the work of organizations and individuals who are dedicated to both community and environmental well-being.  

We invite you to explore the Community Hub and bookmark it for future references. More than 125 organizations are listed in the Organization Directory. There is also a page that lists upcoming events throughout the region, a collection of other valuable resources, and more information on the community analysis project and its findings. ACT had added the hub to our National Data Sources and Services page, under “Local Information Sources.”  

Thank you to Rochester Ecology Partners for thinking of ACT for this resource! Creating comprehensive directories such as these is a great way to model the 4 C’s and continue the necessary collaborative spirit that enables us to best serve our community. We are happy to take part.  

Contributed by Madison Esposito, Program Administrator for RACF Initiatives and University of Rochester graduate.  

Feedback Survey Results

As promised, we wanted to let you know what we learned from the brief survey that popped up upon entry and exit of the ACT site the last few months.

We learned some important things that will help shape ACT Rochester’s work going forward. The key takeaways include:

1. Visitors to the site come for a variety of reasons, with nothing drawing a majority of responses. Some visitors are coming for Brain Food, others for the dashboard, and others yet are just browsing.

2. Of the people who took the survey, most (55%) did not come with a defined problem in mind and did not have a hypothesis in mind.

3. We got less than half the number of respondents for the exit survey than the entry survey.

4. People are coming to explore both the indicators and the narrative on the new site.

The feedback surveys provided very useful Brain Food for ACT staff. We strive for continuous improvement. Thank you to all who participated!

Curated Articles: End-of-Year Analysis on Homicide Rates

Researchers have taken the new year as an opportunity to reflect on trends in homicide rates and fatalities. We know that Covid provided context for a spike, so recent research is tracking what has happened since the shutdown.

Brookings published an article on December 16th, 2024 titled, “Why did U.S. homicides spike in 2020 and then decline rapidly in 2023 and 2024?” that outlines research into trends since 2019. It is a more technical look, but provides critical insight and analysis. The article includes charts and graphs as well as policy recommendations.

The University of Chicago Crime Lab also published a 2024 End-of-Year Analysis specific to Chicago. The city-specific analysis is able to dig a bit deeper in the data.

*It is worth thinking about the contrasting analyses at the national level (Brookings) versus the city level (Crime Lab). What do you notice?

Rochester has our own research institute that studies criminal justice - RIT’s Center for Public Safety Initiatives and we link to data and insights from local data partner on Criminal justice, Measures for Justice, on the Community Indicators landing page (the bottom section titled ‘Explore Other Categories’).

Consider these publications some Brain Food and ENJOY!

Guest Post: RACF Regional Work

For years, we have seen philanthropy act as a force of good and giving back to areas of need in communities across the country. What we also have seen is that those dollars tend to be directed towards some of our most concentrated areas of poverty, or urban centers. A lot of our neighbors living in poverty tend to live near social service centers which are often located in cities or more populated areas.

At Rochester Area Community Foundation, the majority of our grantmaking has historically been directed towards Rochester and Monroe County. However, we are a resource for eight counties in Western New York, seven of which can be described as more rural than urban. Although the population density is different in our more rural counties, we know that our neighbors living in poverty in our more rural communities face challenges too, some of which are exacerbated by the lack of resources and transportation to get to and from resources that do exist.

Did you know that rural areas receive about seven percent of philanthropic spending, even though they account for 14-20 percent of the population? The Chronicle of Philanthropy published an article this fall (find it here) that explores why our rural communities in America are struggling, and what role philanthropy can play. I encourage you to give it a read to help understand how philanthropy can and will be showing up differently.

We have recognized that we have room for growth in our grantmaking in our rural communities and have been implementing a regional strategy that allows us to show up differently than we have in the past. We want to open our eyes to the “rural blind spot” that exists in philanthropy and have been on a learning tour and building relationships throughout our entire footprint over the past two years. This has resulted in a rework of our grant cycles, a renewed commitment to our full eight-county region, and new relationships and first-time grant recipients in some of our most distressed rural communities.

They say once you know better, do better, and I am proud to be part of the improved effort of engaging our more rural communities to connect more resources with need across all communities that our Community Foundation serves.

Sara Bukowiec is the Senior Program Officer at Rochester Area Community Foundation in the Community Programs Department, where she spearheads the Foundation’s regional strategy to ensure equitable grantmaking across all eight counties that the Foundation serves in Western New York. Before joining the Foundation, she worked in economic development, nonprofit management, and real estate. Sara enjoys the outdoors, live music and exploring the Finger Lakes. She lives in Fairport with her USMC Veteran-turned-entrepreneur husband (J.C.), 3 year-old-son (Wesley), and rescue dog (Georgia). 

Re-Post: Football Season

For our final 2024 re-post, it’s perhaps our most fun post :-) We could all use some extra fun as we switch gears from holiday revelry to the 2025 regular routine.

At ACT Rochester we find that it is helpful to remember that we use and apply statistics in our lives, without making our brains hurt or making numbers feel too complicated. Consider this post from October as some Brain Food that makes math feel less like a monster!

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It’s football season!

Whether you like the NFL, college football, or soccer (called football in the rest of the world!), you’ll notice how often sports use statistics. Announcers are always citing average yards and indicators that put quarterback statistics in context of their current or historical quarterback peers. Data is everywhere!

The point is, that indicators and statistics are commonly used in sports as part of the story. Sports data has been normalized. Sports fans tend to know statistics of their teams, even if they don’t consider themselves data savvy. They know the numbers that are important for their team’s performance.

Football season is a reminder that data, statistics, and indicators are just part of the story you are trying to tell. Adding numbers does not mean you’re adding complication, or that you need an advanced degree to understand.

How can we normalize data in the stories we tell about our community? How can we get as comfortable with statistics about child poverty as we are with Josh Allen’s player stats?

We should be comfortable including numbers in the important stories we are trying to tell. Please know that ACT Rochester is here to help!

GO BILLS!

Re-Post: Science Podcasts

In case you wanted to dive deeper into podcasts that may be relevant for social change or human behavior, see the Brain Food from September.

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Are you a podcast listener? Do you spend time in the car that could use some stimulating brain food? There are so many podcasts available now, you are sure to find something you like.

Brain Food has covered a few podcast episodes, including one with Bill Gates that highlights advanced problem-solving. The whole episode is great, and the post is worth a read!

In case you’re looking for science-related podcasts (fun!), Podcast Review posted an article on The 11 Best Science Podcasts. In the review, staff writer and assistant editor Alice Florence Orr says:

“By emphasizing methodology, a good science podcast not only asks interesting questions; it also explains how and why we arrived at an answer.”

Does that sound like something ACT Rochester would support, or what?! Consider a science podcast for some extra brain food!

Re-Post: Podcast on how to be productive without burning out

Brain Food has incorporated various forms of media as stimulants for our social narrative, including podcasts. See below for a particularly good one!

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In February of 2024 there was an episode of Organizational Psychologist Adam Grant’s podcast ReThinking (based on his book Think Again, which I *highly* recommend) about the challenge in measuring productivity. The episode is titled “How to be productive without burning out” and is in conversation with Cal Newport. Please give it a listen!

The entertaining conversation of two adept sparring partners is about measuring productivity in jobs that have hard-to-measure outputs. They reference the knowledge and service industries as case studies for the productivity dilemma, but I urge you to also think of the non-profit and social sector as you listen. The strategic question posed to me most often is: how do I measure the impact of _____ ? How can we count, measure, assess our work so that we can then determine whether it was “good”? These are really tough questions and this podcast was catalytic in my own thinking, which I now offer to the ACT audience. 

I hope you enjoy this listen as much as I did! How can we integrate Slow Productivity into our operating systems?

Re-Post: Next City covers Rochester as featured case about banking efforts

We love when Rochester is highlighted as a positive example! See below for some inspiring Brain Food.

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On June 3rd, 2024, nonprofit resource Next City posted a story titled “Why a Rochester Credit Union Wants the Local Government to Create Its Own Bank” as a case study for lenders meeting residents’ and small business owners’ needs. The Genesee Co-op Federal Credit Union is featured as part of a push to create a Bank of Rochester, a “public bank” intended to hold only government deposits and partner with local private lenders. 

The article outlines how the idea of a public bank would work and makes the argument for the potential of such a program. This idea is also a spark for thinking about alternative lending, alternative banking options. 

As we learned in Dr. Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, by America, the banking industry is a particularly institutionalized impediment for upward mobility. Consider this alternative, or come up with your own ideas, as you engage in conversations about banking equity, and the potential of this community to encourage home ownership, small business development, and our general upward mobility efforts. 

Re-Post: Working Backwards for Social Issue Problem-Solving: Bill Gates on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

This post is a staff favorite! It is a masterclass in problem-solving. Consider this Michelin-star-level Brain Food!

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Social problems are complex and require a structured, rigorous approach to finding solutions. For example, ACT Rochester uses the ‘4 Cs’ as a guide to support systematized problem-solving. The more structured we are in addressing the complex issues, the more accurately we can diagnose a solution and build a persuasive story.

We start with the problem, working backwards to identify what we need to know and identify opportunities to intervene. It’s science. Tried and true.

In a recent episode on popular podcast Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, Bill Gates discusses his rigorous approach to problem-solving in his work for the Gates Foundation. Early in the episode (a little over 14 and a half minutes in), Gates references his reliance on descriptive statistics for contextual understanding. He then makes a quick reference to the fact that his foundation sponsors autopsies on children in India so that they can be sure that they address leading causes of death. The interview doesn’t focus on this point, but it is worth underlining . Since the Gates Foundation is committed to saving lives, Gates and his team acknowledged that first they needed to understand what was taking lives. 

Consider this structured way of thinking. Identify a goal. Figure out root causes to identify interventions. Rinse. Repeat. 

Re-Post: Guest Post on Census Geographies

In honor of the recent release of more recent Census data, let’s recall the Census geographies as defined by guest contributor and RACF colleague, Cameron Caputi.

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To unlock the power of the US Census (data provided every 10 years) and the American Community Survey (data provided every year), an understanding of relevant underlying geographies is crucial. Below are explanations of the nine most relevant Census geographies. 

Census Block: The smallest geography in the census, it represents a small segment of housing units in a neighborhood. Limited data is available, especially in lower density areas. 

Census Block Group: A collection of census blocks are packaged together to create a census block group. Census block groups roughly represent neighborhoods. 

Census Tract: This is the smallest unit in which population-level data from the Census is widely available. There are between 1,200 and 8,000 people in each census tract, but the optimal number per tract is 4,000.  

Zip Code Tabulation Areas: This geography contains all addresses within a postal code. Zip codes can be found in parts of the county in which census blocks, census block groups, and census tracts may not be found. Zip codes follow existing geographic barriers such as county subdivisions and counties to a lesser extent than other smaller geographies.  

County Subdivisions: This geography consists of cities, towns, townships, and villages within a specific county. These geographies are the smallest relevant self-governing geography included in the Census. The geographic boundaries of county subdivisions do not align well with other geographic boundaries such as Zip codes and census tracts. 

Place: This geography is very similar to county subdivision, but it contains unincorporated areas in some states and is divorced from county of origin.

Counties: These are a largely administrative geography with a focus on governance. Counties consist of county subdivisions and places, and typically envelop urban high-density cities. This geography varies greatly in population across the United States, but is a strong choice for evaluative geography due to the relatively low standard error in Census and ACS metrics. 

Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs): This geography is based around core urban areas and encompasses all areas around this core that have a high degree of economic and social integration. MSAs are not limited by counties, places, or county subdivisions, but can cross relevant political boundaries in order to capture population interest. 

Combined Statistical Areas (CSAs): This geography builds upon the concept of MSAs to include surrounding areas with less integration but high economic reliance on major metro areas. This could include hinterlands of major metros that are only semi-urban. CSAs create a boundary to identify regions that transcend metro boundaries. 

In light of these definitions, we urge you to consider the geography of the question or problem that you have in mind. In many cases, we may need to consider establishing more localized data collection.

Written by Cameron Caputi, Director of Foundation and Community Analytics at Rochester Area Community Foundation. Cameron has a Master of Public Policy and Management degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and is a skilled data scientist focused on data processes, dashboard creation, and advanced coding. 

Re-Post: Curated Chapters from Poverty, by America

Matthew Desmond came to Rochester in 2024, and he and his newest book Poverty, by America inspired us to be poverty abolitionists. See this May 2024 post for some Brain Food and curated chapters of this motivating scholarship.

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One of the charges for Poverty Abolitionists in Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, by America is his argument about the inequities of the US banking system. In Chapter 3, Desmond calls out banking. If you have not read the full book yet, I recommend flagging pages 71 to 79. Desmond’s argument is that the poor are trapped in a cycle of debt. From fee structures (think overdraft fees) to overt racial discrimination in banking practices to even banking hours kept, the system is not designed for the poor. Pile on the credit system and qualifying for loans and it’s an uphill battle, to say the very least. So, how can we work toward a more equitable banking system? 

Chapter 9 highlights zoning laws as key vehicles for exclusion and a key component of structural inequality. Desmond argues for a diversity of voices in the zoning conversations, where decisions about community development are made by a group that better reflects the community. If we can move toward more inclusive zoning policy, we would move toward setting a norm of inclusivity. 

The City of Rochester is updating its zoning code, see Rochester Zoning Alignment Project to learn more.

Re-Post: Impact

Originally titled “Impact: Measuring the Difference We Make” this post highlights a key term in our work. Consider this some refreshed Brain Food!

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Impact is a buzzword, particularly in the nonprofit space. What is our impact? Are our programs having impact? The challenge is that “impact” means different things to different people, and social science has a strong opinion. Impact indicates causality and can only be determined through rigorous evaluation. 

An inherently empirical term, impact is the difference in a specific outcome resulting from a particular intervention versus the outcome that results without that intervention. You could think of it like a math problem:

(Outcome with Intervention) – (Outcome without Intervention) = Impact

We often hear of impact defined as an intervention’s results (without evaluation) or even as a measure of output, such as the number of meals served. The danger in the disassociation between impact and causality is that we are setting ourselves up to connect the wrong dots, coming to an inaccurate conclusion because we omitted the science.

As you plan future projects, consider the science behind impact and how you want to measure success. Remember: ACT Rochester is here to help! 

For technical assistance feel free to email actrochester@racf.org

Re-Post: Social Capital

This was one of the first posts on the new site, on a topic that has been central to ACT Rochester, Social Capital. Please enjoy this 2024 favorite Brain Food!

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On a community level, we can use social capital to make sure that all social networks are engaged and that none are isolated. In this way, it becomes a key for advancing equity and economic mobility. Consider social networks… which networks are connected to resources, and which are isolated?

If we are intentional about identifying networks and isolated networks, unemployed or underemployed individuals can become connected and are then more likely to find job-training programs, mentors or new opportunities. Families can find quality after-school programs for their children or day programs for their elders or loved ones with special needs.

December, A Time for Reflection

There’s an article from the September-October 2024 magazine of the Harvard Business Review where Michael Luca and Amy C. Edmondson (you’ll recognize that name from ‘psychological safety’ and Right Kind of Wrong) that summarizes ACT’s mission beautifully:

“When considering internal data or the results of a study, often business leaders either take the evidence presented as gospel or dismiss it altogether. Both approaches are misguided. “ ~Summary, Where Data-Driven Decision-Making Can Go Wrong

The article goes into greater detail and calls out the importance of matching information with the question being asked (internal validity), the pitfall of underestimating the importance of sample size (particularly relevant to many counties in our region), and the challenge of aligning outcomes with actual program activities. It is as though the authors have attended meetings here in Rochester!

We at ACT Rochester have turned to narrative as another key part of the solution to data-driven decision-making going wrong. If we challenge our default assumptions, we are more likely to ask the questions that Luca and Edmondson suggest and avoid the pitfalls.

So, in the spirit of reinforcing new ideas, the Brain Food posts in the month of December will be re-posts from the time before email alerts. We will highlight staff top picks from posts before October. ACT Rochester social media will call out older posts as well. We have worked hard on Brain Food throughout all of 2024 and want to make sure you don’t miss anything!

Happy December, friends of ACT! Please enjoy your Brain Food, nutrition for healthy thought :-)

Gratitude

This is a time for gratitude, and we at ACT Rochester have so much to be thankful for.

Here is just the beginning of our gratitude list:

Thanks to all of you who read Brain Food!

Thank you to our guest contributors - Cameron Caputi, Dr. Tyana Velazquez-Smith, and Kristen Van Hooreweghe!

Thank you to PTKO, Dharmik Joshi, and Omar Aponte for their data wizardry!

Thank you to Andrew Soucier of Soucier Design for continuous partnership on design and website maintenance!

We are so grateful for the opportunity to be a resource for data, narrative, and research in our community. The stories that we tell ourselves, and the stories we tell each other, play such an important role in how we go about social change. We remain grateful for our role in shaping those stories!

Feedback Surveys

You probably noticed a feedback survey that pops up when you get to the ACT website, and again when you leave. To those of you who filled both out - thank you! We encourage you to take the 5 minutes to complete both surveys.

Why are we surveying you? Well, after we gave you some time with the new site, we wanted to learn about who is using the site and how you are using it so that we can keep making it better. We will be taking this survey down in late December and will post new questions after a short break. ACT is a data initiative, after all, and is committed to learning as much as we can about how to make this website a useful tool.

We will report back on survey results in January 2025! Stay tuned for that particular Brain Food, and thank you again for participating.

Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning

I hope everyone is on the distribution list for the Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning (an incredible organization operating within Monroe County). If you’re not already signed up, go to theleadcoalition.org and scroll down to the footer for NEWSLETTER SIGNUP.

Anyway, in their most recent newsletter the Coalition did an exemplary job of contextualizing data:

“Monroe County recently released the number of children with Elevated Blood Lead Levels in 2023 (read the press release here). Unfortunately, 241 children had elevated blood lead levels which is an increase of 100 individuals from 2022. There may be several explanations for the increase, including a continued rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic during which many families skipped routine doctor’s visits and a 6% increase in overall testing. 2023’s numbers will not discourage the Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning and our partners. We will continue our efforts to eliminate lead poisoning, because every kid in Monroe County deserves to be safe from lead!” ~ Newsletter 11/15/2024

The Coalition reported the increase in children with elevated blood levels, sharing necessary information without fear and with a firm grasp on possible explanations. This newsletter is a brilliant example of embracing facts and communicating data in context (one of ACT’s 4 Cs!).

May we all approach data with an eye toward improvement, without fear, and with an understanding of the bigger picture!

UPDATE: Esteemed colleague and fellow RACF Initiative Director Elizabeth McDade sent along a study that highlights the extraordinary work of the Coalition. The research highlights incredible achievements in Monroe County, “Notably, this study found that in Monroe County, the absolute rate of decline in childhood lead poisoning…occurred much faster than those in the U.S. and New York State” (Kennedy et al., 2014, p.2620)

Source: Kennedy, B. S., Doniger, A. S., Painting, S., Houston, L., Slaunwhite, M., Mirabella, F., ... & Stich, E. (2014). Declines in elevated blood lead levels among children, 1997− 2011. American journal of preventive medicine, 46(3), 259-264.

Young People + Civic Participation

In the flurry of conversations about voter turnout and participation, consider this article about how to engage young people beyond elections/voting. It is excellent Brain Food, without the partisanship!

The article provides some very interesting case studies of youth engagement in cities across the US. Remember: voter participation is highly aligned with the upward mobility pillars that drive RMAPI’s work, as voting is key for both a feeling of autonomy and for a sense of belonging. (If you need a reminder of the Upward Mobility Framework, click here.)

Enjoy your weekend and GO BILLS!

RENEW Website!

We’re thrilled to share that RENEW has officially launched their website! This site is a useful tool to learn more about the importance of energy-efficiency and other environmental justice efforts in our region. Rochester ENergy Efficiency and Weatherization (RENEW) works with community partners to help make the homes of income-eligible residents more energy-efficient, healthier, and safer. They’re proud to have been doing this work for 9 years, and celebrated with an anniversary party in August, where this site was first previewed by longtime friends and partners in the work.

The website features a comprehensive list of community partners, client stories, photos, and more. Try using the Carbon Offset Calculator to calculate your total carbon emissions and the amount to donate to “offset” your footprint to the RENEW Climate Fund. This tool will help support our neighbors, and all contributions will stay local to help clean the air we all breathe.

We love to lift up the work of our fellow initiatives at the Community Foundation and invite you to explore this new website at your leisure!

Here’s a bit of a scavenger hunt to get you started: which award did RENEW win in July 2024?  

Eviction Diversion Resource Center

On October 15th, colleagues from fellow RACF initiative RENEW (Rochester ENergy Efficiency and Weatherization), passed along a memo to members from the National Low Income Housing Coalition about Monroe County’s new resource center.

The memo - found here - references ACT Rochester data and explains the utility of this important public service. The Eviction Diversion Resource Center (EDRC) is located within the Hall of Justice and is associated with Housing Court. In fact, the EDRC appears to be a nexus point for many housing-related organizations in Monroe County.

Housing has been a hot button issue and the EDRC and the article provide critical information to inform community members in need, as well as the stories we are telling about housing in Monroe County. Consider this some significant Brain Food!