Ten small and mid-sized cities are participating in the City Health Dashboard’s inaugural Data Challenge. A $75,000 grant will help the cities leverage data to better understand local health and neighborhood condition challenges and help target resources to community development strategies that ensure everyone has a fair and just opportunity to achieve their best health.
The City Health Dashboard, a free online data and mapping resource with community-level health, social, and economic metrics, is launching the Data Challenge in partnership with Reinvestment Fund to provide this opportunity to the Invest Health cities. The goal of the Data Challenge is to support small and midsize cities in developing capacity to embed data-driven changemaking into their operations and programs.
The 10 Invest Health communities selected for the Data Challenge are: Buffalo, New York; Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Hartford, Connecticut; Jackson, Tennessee; Missoula, Montana; New Britain, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; Roanoke, Virginia; Roseville, California; and Savannah, Georgia. The cities will participate in a year-long learning cohort that will use data and collaboration to advance more equitable community development investment that improves the social drivers of health.
Workshops and office hours for technical assistance include discussions on data literacy, community voice, data storytelling and visualization, data-informed policy and advocacy, and institutionalizing data capacity and practices.