A group of teenagers is standing in front of a room of residents, government officials, and organizations. They are presenting findings from data they helped to collect. Their work speaks to urgent challenges in their communities, including displacement, air pollution, extreme heat, and lack of community spaces. For some of the teenagers, this is their first experience collecting data and contributing to solutions in their own communities.

Engaging teenagers and young adults in data collection, analysis, and dissemination improves the quality of the results, provides better information for policy and program responses, and supports the next generation of leaders.

In this fifth blog post in our Equity in Action series, we explore how four local organizations that received grants from the Local Data for Equitable Communities program are training and partnering with youth to be the voices shaping community-informed solutions.

Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (Los Angeles, California)

In the Historic Filipinotown (HiFi) neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, recent real estate developments have raised rents, which have led to an increase in evictions, particularly among Latino and Filipino residents. 

To prevent displacement of longtime residents, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) is partnering with Kounkuey Design Initiative and the HiFi Coalition to train 13 young residents participating in SIPA’s Community Media Lab to interview HiFi residents about how displacement and gentrification has affected them, their families, and their small businesses. Once trained, the Community Media Lab Interns will present their oral history projects to HiFi residents at two community events. SIPA will also educate their neighbors about the new Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance, opportunities for preserving affordable housing, and other anti-displacement strategies. To support community organizing beyond this grant, SIPA will also recruit residents for a Community Tenants Network.

Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (Boston, Massachusetts)

The East Boston neighborhood has limited green space and lies close to three roadways and an international airport, conditions that contribute to poor air quality and health risks. One study found that East Boston’s children had higher rates of asthma than children in other parts of Boston. 

Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH) is identifying areas with high air pollution and equipping East Boston residents with information to advocate for better environmental conditions. NOAH has installed air quality sensors and is training five young people to analyze these data, to use Python and Excel, and to present information and solutions as community leaders. They will share the air quality findings with East Boston residents through workshops, working sessions, and an East Boston air quality summit. These sessions will strengthen the ability of residents and other organizations to engage with policymakers about solutions to improve and mitigate the harm from poor air quality. The young residents are contributing to environmental justice advocacy now and are preparing to be future leaders who can identify solutions to other issues affecting their community.

Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (Oakland, California)

The Fruitvale and West Oakland neighborhoods have very few trees, as concrete and buildings cover the area, absorbing heat and increasing temperatures, creating urban heat islands. Studies have found that hotter temperatures are also correlated with increased violent crime.

To increase climate resilience and public safety in the face of rising temperatures, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ) is training young people to collect Fruitvale and West Oakland residents’ experiences, so residents can shape local climate resilience planning and public safety investments. The young people will survey residents about their experiences during heat waves and help clarify the support they need to reduce harm and disruption to their lives. They will also create short videos sharing their own experiences during climate emergencies and will present these videos and survey results to the community and to city officials. The intention is for the findings to inform the City of Oakland’s Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, demonstrating the need to include planning for extreme heat and shift public safety investments toward green infrastructure. CURYJ is also using the findings as it plans for a community resilience hub with information and resources that residents need during extreme weather.

CTData Collaborative (Hartford, Connecticut)

Sports and play opportunities are associated with positive physical, social, and academic development in young people. Opportunities in Hartford have dwindled with the closure of recreation centers and sports teams, leaving the city’s mostly Black and Latino young residents with few options. To demonstrate the need for new investments in recreation, CTData Collaborative will work with young people participating in the Hartford Youth Data Fellowship to gather data about where investments are most needed. Young people will develop a survey and host focus groups with their peers and parents to ask about their satisfaction with current programs and what financial, transportation, and other barriers to participation exist. Next, they will analyze and share results with local agencies, community organizations, and residents. The young people will present the analysis to the City of Hartford’s Department of Sports and Recreation to guide their plans for funding for new recreation programs and facilities that meet young people’s interests and needs. 

What These Communities Can Teach Us

People most affected by racial, economic, and geographic inequities in health and well-being should be able to access, contribute, and interpret data to assess structural inequities in their communities. This kind of community involvement happens infrequently, and when it does, it generally excludes young people’s perspectives.

These projects show that when young people are included and trained in community initiatives, they have the potential to be powerful drivers of change. Across these four cities, young people are gathering data, elevating insights into lived experiences, and bringing solutions directly to residents and policymakers. Their efforts strengthen the ability for themselves and their neighbors to have a say in decisions that affect their communities. They can provide inspiration for other communities to also recognize and include young people as leaders to improve local conditions.

About the Initiative

The Local Data for Equitable Communities grant program, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is supporting 30 grantee organizations across the country to use local data and community experience to improve the physical, social, or economic conditions specific to those places. These projects span rural and urban areas, engage a broad range of community members, and address issues including food access, housing and land use, climate, sustainability, and justice. 

Learn more about all the Local Data for Equitable Communities grantees.

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