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    Shared Prosperity

    /Shared Prosperity

    March 2017

    Press Release: Boomtown/Hometown Report

    By | 2017-05-01T18:54:22+00:00 March 1st, 2017|Civic Leadership, Press Release, Shared Prosperity|

    Read the Report Can Cambridge retain its culture of diversity and opportunity in a dynamic innovation economy? Foundation calls for an agenda for ‘Shared Prosperity’ March 1 2017 A new report by Cambridge Community Foundation charts the impact of trends in housing, education and income disparity that threaten the city’s prized culture of diversity and inclusion, even as its enviable role in a regional innovation economy drives soaring levels of prosperity. A review of relevant data raises questions about whether this growth actually benefits city residents–or whether a growing financial disconnect means many residents can no longer afford the city they live in. Fully 78 percent of current low-income households in Cambridge are “cost burdened,” spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Over half spend over 50 percent of total income on housing. They qualify as “severely cost burdened.” In 2015, Just 4 percent of the city’s rental housing stock was affordable for a family with two workers earning $75,000 a year in total – in a community with a median annual household income of just over $79,000. The cost of buying a home is inevitably further out of reach: just 2 percent of single-family [...]

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    February 2017

    JOIN US FOR A COMMUNITY CONVERSATION ABOUT CAMBRIDGE MARCH 1st

    By | 2017-02-23T02:22:02+00:00 February 11th, 2017|Civic Leadership, Press Release, Shared Prosperity|

    A new report by the Cambridge Community Foundation draws attention to three powerful trends now shaping our city's future: increasing income inequality, rapidly rising housing costs and persistent educational disparities. Where are these trends taking Cambridge? Can our city-with its booming innovation economy and exceptional community assets-keep its historic commitment to social justice and create a future in which prosperity is shared across the entire community?   Please join us for a community conversation on Wednesday, March 1, 2017 8:00-8:30 a.m. Breakfast and registration 8:30-8:50 a.m. Welcome and a Presentation of the Report Findings 8:50 - 10:10 a.m. A Panel of local Thought Leaders MODERATOR: Marjorie Decker, Massachusetts State Representative, 25th Middlesex District PANELISTS: Randy Albelda, Graduate Program Director and Professor of Economics, College of Liberal Arts: Senior Fellow Center for Social Policy, UMass Boston Moacir Barbosa, Director of Community Engagement, Health Resources in Action Barry Bluestone, Russell B. and Andree Stearns Trustee Professor of Political Economy, School of Public Police and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University Ronald F. Ferguson, Fellow, Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy and Faculty Director of the Achievement Gap Initiative, Harvard University 10:10 - 10:50 a.m. Community Table Conversation 10:50 - 11:00 a.m. Highlights and Closing FOR [...]

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    March 2016

    CAMBRIDGE FORUM SETS SIGHTS ON SHARED PROSPERITY THROUGH GREATER ACCESS TO THE INNOVATION ECONOMY

    By | 2017-01-23T15:07:54+00:00 March 24th, 2016|Civic Leadership, Innovation Economy, Press Release, Programs, Shared Prosperity|

    S.T.E.A.M. education connects technology, art to create ‘ladders’ for students, adults in search of careers drawing on 21st century skills CAMBRIDGE Just how important is the innovation economy to those who live and work in Cambridge and the surrounding region? Almost 40 percent of the state’s workforce is employed in the innovation sector, far more than any other state. Wages in the innovation sector are typically much higher than average wages, one reason for the robust economy in Massachusetts. Massachusetts itself was ranked the top innovation hub in the country by Bloomberg News earlier this year. In turn, the innovation economy itself is driven by trained talent – employees entering the workforce with critical skills. At the same time, there is a growing need to give young people access to learn the skills that provide access to opportunity and, ultimately, a share in the prosperity innovation generates. One result has been the development of S.T.E.M. education – the letters stands for Science Technology Engineering and Math – which represents the effort to prepare young people, or adults with skills that fit the needs of the 21st century knowledge economy. S.T.E.A.M. takes that strategy a step further by bringing the [...]

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