New Economy Initiative

New Economy Initiative
Name	New Economy Initiative
Type	Philanthropic organization
Founded	2008
Founder	Anonymous group of philanthropists
Location	United States
Area served	Metropolitan regions
Focus	Economic development, social innovation

New Economy Initiative

The New Economy Initiative is a philanthropic effort established to catalyze economic opportunity through strategic grantmaking, capacity building, and ecosystem development. It partners with a range of civic, cultural, and financial institutions to support entrepreneurship, workforce pathways, and community development in urban regions. The Initiative mobilizes resources from private foundations, corporate philanthropy, and philanthropic intermediaries to target measurable outcomes in underserved communities.

Overview and Origins

The Initiative emerged in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, informed by lessons from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and regional efforts like Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Enterprise Community Partners. Its formation drew on research from think tanks such as Brookings Institution, Urban Institute, Economic Policy Institute, and policy work by National League of Cities and United States Conference of Mayors. Early convenings included practitioners from Aspen Institute, Council on Foundations, Philanthropy Roundtable, and municipal leaders influenced by models from Mondragon Corporation and international development agencies like United Nations Development Programme.

Goals and Principles

The Initiative's goals emphasize inclusive growth, equitable access to capital, and scalability of community-led models, aligning with priorities advocated by Annie E. Casey Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Carnegie Corporation of New York. Principles guiding grants reflect frameworks from OECD, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and standards promoted by Charter for Compassion and Living Cities. It adopts outcomes-driven approaches influenced by evaluation models from RAND Corporation and Harvard Kennedy School programs, integrating participatory design practices used by Design Council and IDEO.

Programs and Initiatives

Programs typically include seed funding for social enterprises, technical assistance for community development financial institutions like Calvert Impact Capital and Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and convenings that bring together stakeholders from Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Administration, Economic Development Administration, and regional colleges such as Wayne State University and University of Michigan. Initiatives often partner with accelerator programs modeled on Y Combinator, workforce training efforts similar to Per Scholas, and incubation networks like Techstars and SCORE Association. Projects have targeted legacy neighborhoods impacted by policies involving Highway Act of 1956 and housing patterns related to Redlining and interventions inspired by Promise Neighborhoods and Community Benefits Agreement frameworks.

Funding and Governance

Funding streams combine endowments, donor-advised funds from platforms such as Fidelity Charitable and Schwab Charitable, and pooled grants coordinated with foundations like John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and corporate partners such as JPMorgan Chase and Ford Motor Company Fund. Governance structures reflect nonprofit best practices cited by Independent Sector and legal frameworks under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3), with boards that have included trustees from institutions like University of Chicago, Columbia University, Cleveland Foundation, and civic partners from Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. Oversight mechanisms reference compliance standards from Council on Foundations and audit practices used by Deloitte and Ernst & Young.

Impact and Evaluation

Evaluations employ metrics drawn from Social Impact Bond pilots, outcome frameworks used by What Works Clearinghouse, and measurement approaches from GuideStar and Candid. Reports compare results with case studies documented by Urban Institute, Brookings Institution, and academic research from Harvard Business School and MIT Media Lab. Impact areas reported include small business creation, job placement in sectors influenced by National Association of Manufacturers, access to capital through partners like CDFI Fund, and neighborhood revitalization comparable to projects studied in Restoration Economy analyses.

Criticism and Controversies

Critics have raised concerns paralleling disputes seen around initiatives supported by Bill Gates and George Soros foundations: debates over donor influence, measurement-driven philanthropy, and potential displacement effects noted in analyses by Institute for Policy Studies and NAACP. Controversies echo critiques tied to public-private partnerships involving entities such as Goldman Sachs and urban renewal programs critiqued in histories of Robert Moses projects. Debates focus on transparency advocated by Sunlight Foundation and governance reforms pushed by advocacy groups like Grassroots Collaborative.

Category:Philanthropic organizations Category:Economic development organizations