NNIP PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance
The Jacob France Institute
University of Baltimore
1420 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Contact: Matthew Kachura, Project Manager
mkachura@ubalt.edu
Contact: Peter Armstrong, GIS/Data Manager
parmstrong@ubalt.edu
http://www.ubalt.edu/bnia/

Institutional Setting

The Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance (BNIA) is an Alliance of organizations and neighborhoods committed to promoting, supporting, and making better decisions using accurate, reliable, and accessible data and information for improving the quality of life in Baltimore City neighborhoods.

This unique Alliance builds on and coordinates the related work of citywide nonprofit organizations, city and state government, neighborhoods, foundations, businesses and universities to support and strengthen the principle and practice of well-informed decision making for change toward strong neighborhoods and a thriving, vital city.

While each affiliated organization continues in their own way to promote this principle, their work is coordinated and mobilized through involvement with the Alliance to move this principle forward in a more comprehensive and powerful way focusing on supporting neighborhood improvement, and serving the neighborhoods of Baltimore City. Together they have created a comprehensive neighborhood information system containing:

Whereas with many of the NNIP partners, neighborhood information functions are performed by a unit within a broader institution (like a community foundation or United Way), BNIA is set up independently to perform these functions as its primary mission.

BRIEF HISTORY
In 1998, the Annie E. Casey Foundation approached the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers (ABAG) to explore the interest in Baltimore for developing a neighborhood indicators initiative, mirroring those in other cities across the country involved in the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP), a project coordinated by the Urban Institute and funded through the Annie E. Casey Foundation. That initial exploration lead to a year-long planning process resulting in the gathering of several citywide nonprofit organizations, city government, neighborhoods, and foundations, who created the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance.

The Alliance has grown to coordinate, mobilize and build on the work of many additional groups and organizations, many of whom are highlighted throughout the Alliance's first publication - the Vital Signs for Baltimore Neighborhoods Report, and include the endorsers of and participants in the development of the Vital Signs. Representatives from these groups serve on at least one Working Group (at least one per program), with many included in the Alliance's Coordinating Committee that functions similarly to a Board.

The Alliance has received funding from several local and national foundations, as well as businesses and individuals. These include the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Open Society Institute-Baltimore, Morris Goldseker Foundation, Baltimore Community Foundation, Abell Foundation, the Fannie Mae Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, Provident Bank of Maryland, Struever Brothers Eccles and Rouse, and several others.

RESULTS
Ultimately, neighborhood residents and others will be able to use data and the Vital Signs strategically and effectively to foster new ways of thinking about improving our neighborhoods over time. The Alliance provides the resources to help stakeholders across Baltimore City use data and indicators to make better informed, strategic decisions over time, moving toward the social and systemic changes needed in Baltimore City. The Alliance is the catalyst leading to that change.

BNIA's work is vitally important to community organizations working to improve their areas, nonprofit groups considering new programs, foundations and corporations targeting their investments, city agencies improving their services, or policy makers considering new courses of action. The Vital Signs, training, and access to accurate and reliable data and indicators the Alliance provides are key for understanding and planning for the future of our city and its neighborhoods.

Vital Signs, training and technical assistance, and the "One Stop Shop" for data

The Alliance has produced a neighborhood information system that synthesizes the work of several data providers and disseminates the data and indicators like the Vital Signs in an accessible and easy to use format. The information system has three major components. Through the Baltimore Neighborhood Vital Signs, the Alliance tracks trends that measure progress towards desired outcomes for Baltimore City neighborhoods over time that were established through a comprehensive community-driven process. Covering topics such as housing, health, education, and transit, the first annual Vital Signs for Baltimore Neighborhoods Report was released in November 2002 and can be downloaded from the BNIA website, and the updated Vital Signs, showing three years of trends, are now available for download.

The Vital Signs are the core of the Alliance's work and integrated into the other essential components. The "One Stop Shop" for data and indicators about Baltimore and its neighborhoods, is available on the website and in the Alliance's office. The Alliance uses Geographic Information Systems technology (GIS) to develop its user-friendly interactive mapping component on the website that permits users to organize and extract statistical and geographic data and indicators by community statistical area or census tracts, and create custom maps to display these items. In addition, users can download static maps and tables in PDF format with data at the census tract, community statistical areas, zip code, and parcel (upon request from the office) levels. Items on the Alliance's website are regularly updated.

In addition, the Alliance offers technical assistance and training on how to access, understand, and use the data for neighborhood improvement, including training on using the Vital Signs in an outcome based approach to decision making that can be adapted to be specific to neighborhood groups. This approach helps people understand and track their long-term progress and the impact they are having on changing the conditions in their neighborhoods. Instruction is provided through quarterly introductory trainings, workshops integrated into the work of its training provider partners, and by request.

PARTNER BIOGRAPHIES:

Matthew Kachura, Project Manager. Mr. Kachura is the Project Manager of BNIA-JFI (Jacob France Institute). Matthew has been with the University of Baltimore since 1997 and brings expertise in several important areas to BNIA-JFI. He has experience in economic development, workforce development, survey-based research, and a variety of other urban issues. While with the Jacob France Institute Matthew has overseen the Maryland Business Climate Survey, a survey of 1,000 Maryland firms annually on a variety of issues including business performance and expectations, business climate and environment, business retention, and workforce issues. He also has worked on a variety of projects focused in areas including regional workforce development planning high technology issues, economic impact analysis, urban and regional issues including the Baltimore Empowerment Zone, the earned income tax credit, and commuter issues. Matthew received his Bachelor’s in Economics from UMD College Park, earned his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Baltimore, and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Public Policy specializing in Urban Issues from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.