New York City, Nov. 7, 2011 – Points of Light today helped kick-off the Opportunity Nation campaign, a broad-based, cross-partisan coalition of nearly 200 public, private, nonprofit, civilian and military organizations all working together to create and advocate for an agenda that provides better skills, quality jobs and stronger communities to all Americans.
“Points of Light believes that volunteerism and civic engagement have been a critical part of making the American dream a reality for previous generations. No one makes it on their own. That same spirit will be critical to reviving the dream for future generations,” said David Ray, chief strategy and public policy officer at Points of Light. “We at Points of Light are committed to supporting people and communities in realizing their potential to improve their communities and the country at large.”
“At a time when many Americans are worried about how they’re going to pay next month’s bills, Washington is stuck in political gridlock that is doing nothing to relieve these fears,” said Kevin Jennings, CEO of Be the Change, Inc., the parent organization behind Opportunity Nation. “Today we start a dialogue to change all of that. Next year is going to be a time when the nation takes a long, hard look at itself and asks what kind of future we want for our country. Opportunity Nation has a plan for ensuring that every American has access to the American dream now and into the future, and we’re going to be asking every elected official and candidate for office, ‘What’s your plan for restoring opportunity to Americans’?”
Over the coming months, Opportunity Nation will leverage the collective support from its cross-partisan coalition and work to engage elected officials at all levels of government, as well as the candidates running for president in 2012.
A centerpiece of the campaign’s launch is a new product designed to show exactly what opportunity in America looks like today. This Opportunity Index is a tool for national, state and local leaders – as well as engaged community members – to use as a guide for measuring and improving opportunity for everyone in their area. More than a dozen data points were used to assign every state and almost every county in America a first-of-its-kind Opportunity Score. The Index data is displayed in a user-friendly and interactive website: www.opportunityindex.org.
“Opportunity Nation starts from the belief that the zip code you’re born into shouldn’t pre-determine your destiny, and that when social mobility grinds to a halt, we are in grave danger of losing the best of America,” said Mark Edwards, executive director of Opportunity Nation. “For too long we have sliced and diced the interconnected issues of education, jobs, families and communities – the framework underlying the idea of opportunity – into narrow silos that are disconnected, as if opportunity was a zero-sum idea. That approach is no longer working because these factors work in tandem to determine the potential success of our citizenry. That’s what the Opportunity Index provides – an unprecedented picture of what opportunity in America looks like at the local, state and national levels.”
“The data made available through the Opportunity Index will allow us and the people we work with in communities around the country to better focus our efforts,” said Ray.
The Index reveals some interesting new facts:
• 12 of the 15 lowest scoring states are in the south
• Five of the 10 highest scoring states are in the northeast region
• Income is surprisingly not the strongest indicator of opportunity; Nevada has higher than average median household income, but ranks last in the nation in opportunity due to low scores in education and community dimensions
• The indicator with the strongest correlation with the final Opportunity Score for a state is youth academic and economic inclusion; specifically, states with a higher percentage of “teenagers (16-19) not in school and not working” have low opportunity scores
• States with high rankings had citizens with low health risk factors
• States with low opportunity scores tend to have higher military recruitment rate
The Opportunity Index is designed to empower community leaders, engaged citizens and elected officials at all levels of government to take a serious look at the opportunities available in their areas. The Index will be issued annually, giving leaders a way to track progress and measure the effectiveness of their efforts.
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