Kirwan Institute Brown Bag - August 2009
August 7, 2009 - Opportunity Mapping: The Massachussetts Opportunity Initiative
By Jason Reece, a senior researcher at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and Samir Gambhir, a senior research associate at the Kirwan Institute
“The Massachusetts Opportunity Initiative” assesses access to neighborhoods of opportunity in Massachusetts. An “opportunity mapping” analysis was commissioned by the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and funded by the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation. Representatives of the Legal Aid community for the State of Massachusetts worked with The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity at The Ohio State University to conduct the analysis. The goal of the opportunity mapping initiative was to understand how low income groups and racial and ethnic populations were situated in Massachusetts’s geography of opportunity. The initiative not only provides a tool to support advocacy and policy reform, but also provides an analytical lens to view the challenges and potential remedies for legal aid clients in the State of Massachusetts. The presentation will provide an overview of the process, results and application of this work.
Jason Reece is a senior researcher at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity at The Ohio State University and has worked for the Institute since 2003. He manages the "Opportunity Communities Program" which includes all GIS, housing, neighborhood revitalization and regional policy initiatives at the Institute. His work involves advocacy and policy research on issues related to fair housing/opportunity based housing, community development, neighborhood revitalization, regional equity and GIS. He recently organized the Institute's 2008 national convening on subprime lending, foreclosure and race.
Samir Gambhir works as Senior Research Associate at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity at The Ohio State University. He has four years of experience working on research, data analysis and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) mapping at the Institute. His work involves spatial and quantitative analysis for research projects at the Institute covering a wide array of topics such as education, health and housing. He also manages "Opportunity Mapping" work as a support for Institute's "Communities of Opportunity" framework.
All sessions will be held in room 423 Mendenhall Laboratory at noon.
For more information, please contact Elsadig Elsheikh.
