Economic Vitality

WE CONTRIBUTE TO THE CHICAGO REGION’S LONG-TERM VITALITY BY GROWING AN ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE

OPPORTUNITY AREAS

Inclusive regional economic growth
Equitable investment across communities
Individual opportunity and prosperity

Indicators

Key Projects

City of Chicago – Vision for Equitable Recovery
Advancing Equitable Recovery through the American Rescue Plan Act
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District – 5-Year Strategic Plan
West Side United

How Does Inclusive Economic Growth Build an Equitable Chicago?

Event Date | May 10, 2021

“Civic Consulting Alliance provided immediate capacity and expertise to support the City’s decision-making processes, and their invaluable partnership has helped to ensure that American Rescue Plan resources will align with our equity-focused policy goals.”

— Lori E. Lightfoot, Mayor, City of Chicago

2021 Economic Vitality Snapshot

Indicators

Civic Consulting Alliance evaluates long-term indicators to inform our platform visions and our mission. These indicators also help us understand how the challenges we seek to address impact people in our region inequitably, shaped by factors like race, ethnicity, gender, or neighborhood. In turn, these indicators highlight that our solutions must be equity-focused and guided by the people they most impact.

Key Takeaway

The overall economic well-being of our region has improved in recent years. However, there continues to be significant economic inequity based on race. For example, the gap between the median income of White residents and that of Black and Latinx residents has grown since 2010. The COVID-19 crisis has only exacerbated many of the systemic inequities that underlie these gaps.

Labor Force PARTICIPATION Rate (%)
City of Chicago | 2010-2019

The graph below depicts the labor force participation rate for residents of Chicago aged 16-64, overall and by race/ethnicity.

Regional GDP ($B)
ChicagoLAND | 2010-2019

The graph below depicts the gross domestic product (GDP) for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Median household income ($k)
City of Chicago | 2010-2019

The graph below depicts the median household income for residents of Chicago, overall and by race/ethnicity.

City of Chicago -
Vision for Equitable Recovery

One of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s policy priorities is to eradicate poverty and address systemic inequities. This priority only grew in importance due to the COVID-19 crisis, as thousands of residents faced unemployment, loss of income, and other hardships. While the City worked to address the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, it sought to ensure an inclusive and equitable economic recovery—pursuing strategies that would lead to enduring change. Throughout 2020 and 2021, Civic Consulting Alliance supported a series of critical projects with the City to achieve this vision for economic equity and vitality.

Recovery Task Force Project Management
Office Structure

Soon after the pandemic hit Chicago, Mayor Lightfoot launched the COVID-19 Recovery Task Force—a group of industry experts, regional government leaders, community-based partners, and policymakers—to provide recommendations for the recovery of the Chicago region. Civic Consulting Alliance and our pro bono partner McKinsey served a key role in managing the work of the Recovery Task Force in the spring of 2020.

In July 2020, the Recovery Task Force released its advisory report, ‘Forward Together,’ outlining 17 recommendations to ensure an inclusive and equitable recovery. The recommendations covered a wide range of issues—from mental health to business attraction.

In fall 2020, a joint Civic Consulting Alliance and EY pro bono team collaborated with the Mayor’s Office to design and implement a system to manage the execution of those recommendations across City departments and sister agencies. Over eight weeks, the team stood up and piloted a Project Management Office structure to help ensure progress, accountability and transparency. The team also identified specific initiatives to achieve each recommendation and tools to drive these initiatives forward.

“Civic Consulting Alliance’s support helped the Mayor’s Office take timely action on the initiatives outlined in Forward Together. They ensured that we have structures in place to keep multiple City departments and agencies focused on implementing a unified vision for an equitable recovery.”

— Samir Mayekar, Deputy Mayor for Economic and Neighborhood Development, City of Chicago

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Recovery Workforce Initiatives

With the Project Management Office structure fully operational, Civic Consulting Alliance shifted to accelerate the implementation of select Recovery Task Force recommendations. From January through March 2021, a joint Civic Consulting Alliance and Deloitte pro bono team supported an effort to identify recovery workforce initiatives that would increase access to in-demand jobs for those who have been displaced by the COVID-19 crisis, youth entering the workforce, and communities of color. We:

Facilitated working sessions with workforce stakeholders to identify employment opportunities in five growth sectors: healthcare, transportation, distribution, and logistics, manufacturing, food service, and information technology;
Engaged subject matter experts to identify breakages that inhibit disadvantaged communities from accessing those opportunities; and
Developed a solutions roadmap to coordinate execution between the Mayor's Office, the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, and other partner organizations through 2022.

Equipped with this robust, collaboratively-built roadmap, the City and Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership are advancing ten priority workforce initiatives and, in August, hosted ‘HIRE Chicago,’ a month-long citywide hiring event attracting over 200 employers and engaging several thousand job seekers.

INVEST South/West

While pursuing these forward-looking economic recovery initiatives, the City also continued to support ambitious strategies to alleviate poverty and inequity that it had launched prior to the COVID-19 crisis—in particular, INVEST South/West, a groundbreaking initiative to counter historical disinvestment on the South and West Sides that targets significant public, private sector, and philanthropic investments in key commercial corridors in 10 neighborhoods.

“At a time when the City’s resources are stretched thin, Civic Consulting Alliance has kept us driving towards the transformative goals that are necessary not just for our recovery, but to make Chicago an equitable city where all residents prosper. There is no other organization that has Civic Consulting Alliance’s depth of experience collaborating with the City, nor the breadth of visibility across major initiatives and sectors that we rely upon.”

— Samir Mayekar, Deputy Mayor of Economic Development, City of Chicago

In early 2020, Civic Consulting Alliance joined our longtime partner BCG to support Deputy Mayor Mayekar to: define a first-of-its-kind, inter-department operating model for the execution of INVEST South/West that incorporates robust community input in decision-making; map City funding sources for 50+ INVEST South/West projects; and develop a prototype marketing tool to attract private sector investment to target neighborhoods.

To sustain and accelerate the implementation of INVEST South/West’s operating model—through the demands of the COVID-19 crisis—Civic Consulting Alliance provided an ‘executive on loan’ to temporarily staff the role of Business Development Manager within the INVEST South/West office. From spring 2020 through March 2021, we supported various initiatives, including the examples shared here:

Worked with the Department of Planning and Development and more than 50 private sector and nonprofit organizations to explore moving or investing in facilities on the South and West Sides, which led a major hospital to make plans to build a clinic in Bronzeville.
Secured support from a pro bono partner to assess real estate investment trends.
Helped secure $11 million in grants from the CARES Act to address health care deserts in Auburn Gresham and North Lawndale.
Developed a pilot effort to clean and beautify vacant lots on INVEST South/West corridors with the support of a pro bono fellow from Bain.
Supported the creation of requests for proposals (RFPs) for development of sites in Austin, Auburn Gresham, and Englewood, and created agendas and facilitation materials for community feedback sessions to gather input on the RFPs, which we then helped synthesize for bid evaluation materials.
Worked with the Center for Community Progress to develop a report on policy options for reducing vacant commercial buildings.
Collaborated with the Mayor’s Office to set up a team at World Business Chicago to carry forward INVEST South/West’s business development work.

Outputs

INVEST South/West

Tools and processes—for the Mayor’s Office and World Business Chicago to drive forward community-desired business development in 12 INVEST South/West corridors
RFPs—from the City for development of sites in the initial three INVEST South/West neighborhoods (Austin, Auburn Gresham, and Englewood)

Recovery Task Force

Project management structure—and process to oversee the City’s implementation of the 17 Recovery Task Force (RTF) recommendations, and ensure accountability and transparency
Staff capacity—to manage the RTF and help implement its recommendations
Roadmap—outlining recovery workforce initiatives to be executed through 2022

Outcomes

INVEST South/West

Chicago selected three winning proposals for developments in Austin, Englewood, and Auburn Gresham, which will give residents access to new cultural, affordable housing, and employment resources—including an anticipated 330 short term construction jobs and 70 permanent, full-time jobs

Recovery Task Force

City of Chicago has taken concrete steps to achieve the ambitious recommendations of the Recovery Task Force—which arguably contributed to Chicago having the lowest unemployment rate of the nation’s top four major cities
Ten workforce development initiatives are underway to increase access to in-demand jobs for those who have been displaced by the COVID-19 crisis, youth entering the workforce, and communities of color

City of Chicago and Cook County

Advancing Equitable Recovery
through the American Rescue Plan Act

The American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law on March 12, 2021, providing nearly $2 billion to the City of Chicago and $1 billion to Cook County in direct, flexible funding to combat the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our region. From mid-March through the summer, we committed more than 30% of our consulting staff to help the City of Chicago and Cook County plan for efficient and effective investment of these funds, with significant support from our partners.

City of Chicago

Civic Consulting Alliance supported the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office with two key efforts.

1 | Legal Analysis

We secured a pro bono team from Mayer Brown LLP to coordinate with the City’s budget office and federal affairs team to analyze and understand the full complement of American Rescue Plan funds available to Chicago. Mayer Brown mapped sources of funding to be available via competitive processes (including via the State and federal agencies), and provided the City a comprehensive view of the estimated $7 billion in American Rescue Plan funds that could flow to Chicago across those streams. Additionally, the team assessed federal guidance, and reviewed City initiatives to determine their potential eligibility for support.

2 | Investment Framework

We partnered with BCG to establish a framework for decision-making on key investments that advance the Mayor’s most critical policy initiatives. Through mid-May, the Civic Consulting Alliance and BCG teams built a baseline of all available federal funding provided to the City in the wake of COVID-19, and worked with City departments and senior leadership to develop a framework to design and prioritize potentially transformative initiatives for investment, rooted within the City’s broader budgetary needs. The Civic Consulting Alliance and BCG teams facilitated a rigorous process, utilizing a data-driven and research-grounded approach, and convening leaders to drive alignment across critical departments and agencies.

The resulting framework included three buckets for investment of the $2 billion in flexible funding made available directly to the City of Chicago through the American Rescue Plan: essential city services; thriving and safe communities; and equitable economic recovery.

“Civic Consulting Alliance provided immediate capacity and expertise to support the City’s decision-making processes, and their invaluable partnership has helped to ensure that American Rescue Plan resources will align with our equity-focused policy goals.”

— Lori E. Lightfoot, Mayor, City of Chicago

In June 2021, the Budget Office embedded the American Rescue Plan investment framework within its annual budget process, including a series of community engagement forums. Throughout the process, Civic Consulting Alliance staff assisted in the validation of proposed investments to understand their readiness, potential for impact, and the capacity needed to execute them. In July, a pro bono team from EY amplified these efforts. In September, the Mayor proposed a finalized investment framework for the American Rescue Plan funding as part of the City’s 2022 proposed budget, to be voted on by City Council in October.

As a result of this analysis and planning, the City was able to position American Rescue Plan funding within a holistic and forward-looking investment plan. In the immediate term, through fall 2021, Civic Consulting Alliance and our pro bono partner EY continue to support the City in creating a program management structure to guide strategic implementation of American Rescue Plan funds. In the year ahead, we expect to support the City with implementation of priorities where our flexible capacity and expertise is most needed.

Cook County

Civic Consulting Alliance supported Cook County and the County Board President’s Office with two key efforts.

1 | Investment Framework

The County will receive about $1 billion in local government relief funds via the American Rescue Plan. Additionally, cities within the County expect to receive direct local government relief funds, totaling around $250 million for the County’s metropolitan cities (excluding the City of Chicago) and $490 million for its smaller municipalities.

Civic Consulting Alliance engaged Cook County’s bureau chiefs, department heads, policy implementation teams, advisory bodies, individual Commissioners, and others to ideate and identify potential American Rescue Plan funding opportunities. That work supported the development of key themes and an investment framework that centers:

County policy priorities, with a focus on advancing racial equity;
The need for increased County staff capacity to administer American Rescue Plan funds; and
Support for local governments.

Civic Consulting Alliance provided strategic support to the County—leveraging technical analysis conducted by Guidehouse, a consulting firm engaged separately by the County—to ensure that the County’s plan meets eligibility criteria while advancing the County’s policy priorities and fulfilling its focus on equity.

2 | Spending Plan Development

Following review of the investment framework by the County Board of Commissioners in June, Civic Consulting Alliance, Guidehouse, and County staff created a project management structure to facilitate the development of a detailed spending plan for American Rescue Plan funds. That structure included existing County Policy Teams to ensure that the spending plan supports the County’s policy goals and an Executive Leadership Council to make the final selection of initiatives to receive funding.

Over the summer, Civic Consulting Alliance worked with Guidehouse and County staff to compile detailed spending requests from bureaus, departments, separately-elected offices, and Commissioners, as well as input from a parallel community engagement effort. Those requests leverage American Rescue Plan funds to expand existing programs and initiatives in the short-term, and launch systemic, transformative efforts that support the County’s policy priorities in the longer-term.

Through fall 2021, Civic Consulting Alliance has continued to work with Guidehouse, County staff, and Slalom to facilitate the Policy Teams and the Executive Leadership Council to help the County identify and prioritize those initiatives that will receive American Rescue Plan funding as part of its FY2022 and future budgets.

“Civic Consulting Alliance is a vital part of our region’s civic infrastructure, providing critical resources that Cook County and other institutions have relied upon in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis to drive forward change and to engage diverse stakeholders in shaping the path ahead.””

— Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board President

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Conclusion

The resources made available via the American Rescue Plan are a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build the equitable Chicago region that we all want to see. Our ongoing support of the City of Chicago and Cook County will help ensure that these funds are invested in catalytic initiatives that can address challenges that exacerbated the pandemic’s impact—including poverty, community disinvestment, and inequitable access to opportunity—and that we must address in order to make our region more just, equitable, and resilient.

OUTPUTS

Investment Framework—to ensure an effective and efficient investment of the billions of dollars to be provided by the federal American Rescue Plan to the City of Chicago and to Cook County, in alignment with both entities’ equity-focused policy priorities
Legal analysis—interpreting federal guidance on eligible American Rescue Plan funding usage by the City of Chicago

OUTCOMES

City of Chicago and Cook County equipped to make decisions about catalytic and sustainable investments in support of an equitable recovery—laying a foundation for strategic investment of potential additional federal funding in the future

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District —
5-Year Strategic Plan

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) is a special-purpose district unit of government responsible for treating wastewater and providing stormwater management for residents and businesses in Chicago and 128 suburban communities throughout Cook County. The MWRD works diligently to protect Lake Michigan, the source of our drinking water, and to ensure the health and safety of residents and area waterways.

In 2020, the MWRD embarked upon a strategic planning process to establish the vision and goals that would guide its work over the next five years. The MWRD engaged Civic Consulting Alliance to conduct the strategic planning process in collaboration with its Board of Commissioners and Executive Team. We brought expertise structuring comprehensive stakeholder engagement efforts and growing experience working with institutions to embed an equity focus across their work – two strategic priorities for the MWRD in this round of planning.

From September 2020 to February 2021, Civic Consulting Alliance conducted a multi-phase strategic planning process with assistance from pro bono partners Kearney and Arup. Kearney provided a pro bono fellow who worked alongside Civic Consulting Alliance staff, and Arup stood up a team that provided subject matter expertise and experience facilitating large-scale innovations.

Phase 1

Led an intensive, iterative engagement effort to assess the MWRD’s current state and identify its desired future state. That engagement effort comprised MWRD leadership (including interviews with nine elected Commissioners); more than 500 MWRD staff; roughly 50 organizations (including the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the Metropolitan Planning Council, and environmental and community-based organizations) who participated in a stakeholder workshop; and members of the general public who participated in public-facing surveys.

Phase 2

Conducted a workshop with the MWRD’s strategic planning Steering Committee, which surfaced five strategic goals: resource management; stormwater management; workforce excellence; community engagement; and enterprise resilience.

Phase 3

Stood up working groups for each strategic goal and developed a Strategic Roadmap for the MWRD to implement, including 150+ sequenced initiatives and metrics to measure progress.

Phase 4

Finalized the Five-Year Strategic Plan, which includes goals, strategies, and initiatives and a framework for the MWRD to update the plan annually.

As a result of this process, the MWRD is equipped with a 2021-2025 Strategic Plan guided by the principles of engagement, collaboration, innovation, equity, and resilience. The MWRD’s vision for its future state has been updated, and its core values have been expanded to include equity and diversity. Moreover, these values are reflected in the specific strategic initiatives outlined in the new Plan. For example, one key focus is to identify and eliminate barriers to participation for disproportionately impacted areas (DIAs) – low-to-moderate income areas that may be more susceptible to flooding and that often have less capacity to partner with the MWRD to implement stormwater solutions and alleviate local flooding.

“I am abundantly thankful to Civic Consulting Alliance, Arup, and Kearney for their generous and skillful leadership in steering our Board and staff through the development and adoption of our new Five-Year Strategic Plan. We now have a visionary document to guide the work of the District that we hope will be a model for collaboration and outreach going forward.”

— Debra Shore, Commissioner, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

Outputs

Tools—including a Strategic Plan and a Strategic Roadmap—to guide the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago’s work in 2021-2025

Outcomes

Integration of an equity lens into the District’s vision and strategies to reduce the disproportionate impact of flooding and other water management challenges on low-to-moderate income areas in Cook County
District is equipped with a robust, collaborative, and community-informed strategic planning process

West Side United

IN CHICAGO’S LOOP THE AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY IS 82 YEARS, WHILE IN GARFIELD PARK—JUST SEVEN L STOPS WEST—IT DROPS TO 68 YEARS, A 14-YEAR “DEATH GAP.”

To address this disparity and improve health outcomes for Chicago’s 550,000 West Side residents, six hospitals—AMITA Health, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Cook County Health, Rush University Medical Center, Sinai Chicago, and University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System—launched West Side United in 2017.

Today, West Side United is a growing collaborative of health care institutions, residents, educators, nonprofits, businesses, government agencies, and faith-based institutions that work, live, and congregate on Chicago’s West Side.

This coalition is driven by an audacious goal: to cut the 14-year death gap in half by 2030. West Side United believes that to achieve this vision, we must address the social factors that determine health—that is, the day-to-day experiences and conditions that influence West Side residents’ lives.

The collaborative invests in high-impact initiatives across four focus areas:

Health and Health Care
Economic Vitality
Neighborhood and Physical Environment
Education

Our Critical Role

Civic Consulting Alliance played a critical role in creating and launching West Side United. In West Side United’s first few years, we devoted significant staff resources to stand up a sustainable organization by providing operational support, developing and launching an inclusive governance structure, and incubating and executing programmatic initiatives.

In our 2021 fiscal year, Civic Consulting Alliance continued to support three key West Side United priorities.

Establishing West Side United as a 501c3

To ensure that it can continue to work towards its mission sustainably and effectively, West Side United aims to establish itself as an independent 501c3 nonprofit organization by the end of 2023. Civic Consulting Alliance advanced progress towards this goal by coordinating working groups and engaging West Side United’s Governance Committee and Leadership Council to:

Define West Side United’s legal structure and execute legal filings;
Define West Side United’s operational model and financial planning; and
Align West Side United’s founding institutions and Leadership Council around a refined vision and organizational structure.

“During this tumultuous year, Civic Consulting Alliance provided the capacity and thought partnership we needed to stay focused on our strategic planning and operational goals – while pivoting to support West Side communities through the economic, health, and social impacts of the pandemic and other crises.”

— Ayesha Jaco, Executive Director, West Side United

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Advancing Career Pathway Programs

Since 2017, Civic Consulting Alliance has collaborated with West Side United to incubate, launch, and execute initiatives across its four focus areas. One key example is its career pathway program initiative.

Civic Consulting Alliance developed a process that West Side United follows to incubate new career pathway programs that connect low-wage workers to well-paying healthcare roles, and provide training and wraparound services—all at no cost. Leveraging this process, we have supported the incubation and implementation of four programs—medical assistant, nursing assistant, health information technology, and respiratory therapy—in six hospital systems. Thus far, 115 individuals have participated in one of the four pathway programs and 300 are expected to participate by 2024.

In 2019, West Side United was awarded a three-year, $3 million grant from JPMorgan Chase’s AdvancingCities Challenge to scale its Economic Vitality initiatives, including the pathway programs. With these critical philanthropic resources in place, the programs were just building momentum when the COVID-19 crisis struck.

“The COVID-19 crisis elevated the importance of a healthcare workforce that reflects the community it serves. Given this context, West Side United’s pathway programs are more important than ever to ensure West Side residents are able to access these growth employment opportunities and in turn boost the economic wellbeing and health of their communities. JPMorgan Chase is proud to support this community-led effort to drive inclusive growth on the West Side.”

— Owen Washburn, Vice President, Global Philanthropy at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

COVID-19 profoundly impacted the pathway programs. Courses required for certifications and degrees paused or moved to a virtual format; pathway participants grappled with the personal, health, and financial challenges brought by the pandemic; and our region’s healthcare needs shifted to treat COVID-19 patients and to adapt to new safety precautions.

With problem solving and program management support from Civic Consulting Alliance, West Side United pivoted to adapt its pathway programs and to aid participants through this challenging time. West Side United also sought to incorporate new strategies to magnify the impact of the pathway programs, to increase the number of participants, and to better target West Side residents. As West Side United prepares for future cohorts, it will continue to incorporate the important lessons learned during COVID-19 in order to increase the initiative’s impact.

Racial Equity Rapid Response

In spring 2020, West Side United was chosen by the Mayor's Office as the lead organization for its COVID-19 Racial Equity Rapid Response initiative to address the virus' disproportionate impact on Black and Latinx Chicagoans; Civic Consulting Alliance partnered with West Side United on this crucial work through fall 2020.

This initiative is a testament to the effectiveness of West Side United’s innovative, community-driven and collaborative model. Moreover, it highlights the need to address the social factors that determine health—as we have seen how factors like race, geography, and employment influence COVID-19 infection and mortality rates. Over the past year, Civic Consulting Alliance continued to leverage the approach and networks we built with West Side United and the Racial Equity Rapid Response Team to support projects addressing the inequitable impact of COVID-19 and building a foundation for future health equity.

OUTPUTS

Operations

Operational model and financial plan—to guide West Side United’s transition to a 501c3 nonprofit structure by end of 2023

OUTCOMES

Priority Initiatives

115 individuals have participated in one of the four pathway programs and 300 are expected to participate by 2024—setting them on a path towards higher-wage employment in clinical positions

Racial Equity Rapid Response

Thanks to the groundwork laid by West Side United since 2017, City equipped with collaborative infrastructure to engage community organizations, community residents, and healthcare providers in hyper-local, equity-informed COVID-19 mitigation and recovery efforts

Platform Funders

In addition to the many pro bono partners acknowledged in the Economic Vitality projects described above, the following corporate and foundation partners committed philanthropic support to fuel our staff investments in our Economic Vitality platform in FY2021:

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General Operating Funders

Our ability to maintain our flexible and responsive capacity to get big things done in all platforms relied on those philanthropic partners who provided general operating support for our mission:

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