Equity in CEDS

As Economic Development Districts seek to incorporate broader Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practices within their organization and approach, the CEDS is a primary avenue to put equity front and center in the region’s planning, priorities, and projects. The CEDS is both a public engagement and planning process and a document representing the vision for the regional economy. If the CEDS does not include considerations and plans to address racial, gender, and geographic disparities and inequities, then the region is hindering opportunities for growth and expanding racial, gender, and geographic economic gaps. For a CEDS to be effective in charting the future of the regional economy, then it must be equitable. 

Incorporating Equity in the Process

Before a region crafts the CEDS document, a robust community engagement and information collection process is vital. 

Transparency and Accountability

Leading with transparency about the purpose and intentions of the CEDS in the community allows for mending past perceptions of distrust and builds opportunities with communities searching for a process that openly shares shortfalls, opportunity gaps, and areas for growth. 

  • Outline the range and reach of the community engagement process within the CEDS document. By sharing this process, it is possible to build transparency and allow community members to see their input recognized. Provide an overview of how engagement was conducted geographically, demographically, and across mediums (locations, online, in-person, and by mail or phone). This summary should allow residents to see how they are reflected in the region’s final strategies and priorities.

  • The selected advisory council must have geographic representation and diversity across race, ethnicity, and class structures. Inviting trusted community-based organizations to represent community voice may take time, but it will create powerful results when translating analysis into actionable strategies and goals. In the document, be clear about how individuals were selected, the time frame and commitment needed, and if any honorariums were provided for the expertise provided during the process.

  • Individuals in historically excluded communities may have been involved in engagement and planning processes in the past, where they were surveyed, interviewed, and engaged with little or no follow-up. These residents’ resulting engagement fatigue can lead to distrust and may even reinforce their views of the historical systems of power and decision-making that have limited their engagement and voice. Ensure that relationships are maintained with these trusted messengers, key residents, and strategic partners to share the results of the engagement process and how they are reflected in the CEDS, and the steps taken in implementation. When undertaking the annual CEDS update, explore opportunities for intentional follow-up and engagement with these stakeholders.

  • Originating from the public health field, the concept of the trusted messenger directly engages and partners with residents that have lived experience for their expertise and perspectives in reaching communities that have been historically excluded. These messengers bring unique perspectives and assets to understand historical systems that those without lived experience may lack. Engage these individuals early and throughout the community engagement process.

  • Identify ways to embed community participation and ownership transparently in engagement activities. There is a spectrum of participation levels to support shared decision-making and center community input throughout the process. Consider engagement methods that take steps to incorporate community ownership rather than providing information and strictly soliciting reactions.

  • When incorporating macro-level and program-level metrics in the CEDS Evaluation Framework, ensure accountability to the community by reporting on progress towards these metrics to key stakeholders, partners, and the broader community at least annually. Bolster transparency by showing the data sources and methods used to calculate progress towards goals. When compiling metrics and outcomes to share, plan listening sessions on how the community is or is not benefiting, identifying if changes need to be made or strategies need to be implemented.

  • Greater Peoria Economic Development Council

    Illinois, Pop. 391,418 (5 counties)

    The Big Table: Greater Peoria is the outreach and engagement process that led to the creation of their CEDS. As a result of this process, diversity, equity, and inclusion were infused throughout the goal areas to address systemic barriers to wealth creation and quality of life in the region.

  • Mid-Columbia Economic Development District

    Oregon/Washington, Pop. 51,844 (5 counties)

    MCEDD viewed the CEDS process as a method to “consider where there are gaps in economic opportunity, barriers to accessing this benefit that may vary by population or community, and ways to support improving outcomes."  To achieve this, staff held seven virtual public sessions and partnered with a local community-based organization to host focus groups with the region's Native American and Latino/a/Hispanic communities. A summary of the CEDS in Spanish was also created. Learn more here.

  • The Spectrum of Community Engagement to Ownership

    Next Street frames community engagement across a spectrum of development stages that lead to true community ownership.

Strategic Partnerships

Actionable CEDS are developed and strengthened by solid partnerships built by robust community engagement strategies; this goes beyond making leadership tables more extensive and diverse and leads towards inclusive buy-in and greater collaboration. 

  • Map partner organizations geographically to understand which areas of the region they serve, including urban, rural, and persistent poverty areas of the region. Examine the sectors and audience of current partners, including the representation of governmental, non-profit, and community-based organizations engaged throughout the planning process.

  • Look beyond traditional economic development organizations, such as the chamber of commerce and municipal economic development entities, to provide insights into the planning process. Incorporate community-based organizations, including civic organizations and grassroots organizations, into the engagement process. These partners could include those deeply embedded in the community, such as neighborhood associations, cooperatives, or local non-profits. Additionally, engage with local organizations working directly with historically excluded audiences, such as the local Black Chamber of Commerce or the local YWCA.

  • In the spirit of Asset Based Community Development, identifying and mapping community assets allows for identifying strengths, resources, individuals, and organizational partners within the community that have aligned goals. When beginning the planning process, ensure that assets have been identified in the community and the relationships among them regionally.

  • When beginning and growing relationships with strategic partners, recognize and acknowledge power dynamics that may be present. Many reasons may keep individuals from being open about equity challenges within the region due to authority, position, funding support, race or gender differences, or other factors. Be aware of these dynamics with partners and seek to address them in the settings and convenings of stakeholders throughout the planning process.

  • When engaging with local organizations, recognize their role and capacity to contribute to the planning process in time and staff expertise. Be upfront about the time commitment, what partners will need to provide, and the timeline for the planning process. Ensure these individuals and organizations are recognized for their contributions.

  • 3Core Economic Development Corporation

    California, Pop. 230,189 (3 counties)

    In their 2022 CEDS, 3Core provided a detailed list of stakeholders and contributors, including local tribes, housing stakeholders, and environmental stakeholders. In the Appendix, each stakeholder had a profile that outlined their priority projects, challenges, and opportunities.

  • Nothing about us without us.”

    From the disability rights movement, the ethos of “nothing about us without us” speaks to the history of excluding marginalized communities in decision-making and policy-making directly affecting them. When considering who is involved and brings expertise to the community engagement process, mainly through the advisory board, redefine who community experts are. Expand the definition to include those most affected by the issues the EDD/EDO is trying to address, from workforce development to housing. Their lived experience gives them insights into the root causes of problems otherwise not seen. When taking steps to engage these experts, ensure they are not tokenized by addressing biases, sharing power, and encouraging co-design. Learn from Detroit Future City’s approach to Centering Community Voice.

  • What is Community Asset Mapping?

    An approach to understanding resources and strengths within the community, including networks, relationships, organizations, and skills. Many conversations discuss assessing community needs, which is a crucial step in understanding the community. Identifying strengths within the community is solutions-oriented rather than solely focused on the challenges. This reframing of residents and communities as possessing aspirations, strengths, and knowledge allows for a more robust understanding of the community. Learn how the City of Boise, Idaho approached asset mapping.

Innovative Data

Most CEDS use data to describe their economies and population in broad strokes without diving deeper into demographic and geographic specifics within their region, leaving a missed opportunity for inclusive growth and development. 

  • Applying different lenses to the information is critical to understanding where equity gaps exist in the community. Breaking metrics down by race and ethnicity, gender, income, and geography across the region paints a very different picture of where disparities exist.

  • Once the data has been disaggregated, the door is opened to exploring this information to identify significant gaps across services and supports for key equity groups. Using resources like Urban Institute’s Spatial Equity Data Tool, steps can be taken to identify substantial demographic or geographic service disparities across the region.

  • Disparities are just some of the insights that this disaggregated data can provide. Commonly when analyzing data by race, gender, or other equity lenses, disparities and deficits are highlighted. Exclusively focusing on disparities and deficits in the findings narrows the story of these individuals and communities and can reinforce stigmas. Ensure that analysis equally considers the strengths and assets of these communities and the ways that increasing economic and ecosystem supports can produce increased economic vibrancy for communities and expand the GDP for the region.

  • Quantitative data can give key insights into identifying themes, issue areas, and conditions. And when using creative opportunities to collect qualitative data from surveys, focus groups, interviews, and listening sessions, ensure the voice of the community is incorporated into the CEDS strategies. These opportunities to listen and reflect on insights directly from the community may provide additional context to macro-level demographics.

  • Considering metrics and data at the regional level, look at how these metrics play out geographically across the region. Consider mapping service gaps throughout the community. Identify the areas of the region that lack access to healthcare, transit, childcare, food, and digital access. These maps can provide important geographic insights to incorporate into planning and offer considerations for approaching outreach and engagement.

  • When incorporating macro-level and program-level metrics in the CEDS Evaluation Framework, ensure accountability to the community by reporting on progress towards these metrics to key stakeholders, partners, and the broader community at least annually. Bolster transparency by showing the data sources and methods used to calculate progress towards goals. When compiling metrics and outcomes to share, plan listening sessions on how the community is or is not benefiting, identifying if changes need to be made or strategies need to be implemented.

  • What is Data Equity?

    Data equity has emerged as a best practice to understand how biased decisions and assumptions influence how data is collected, analyzed, interpreted, and communicated. This understanding explores the fallacies that data and research can be entirely objective and how choices in understanding data and metrics have crucial equity implications for communities. Learn more at We All Count.

  • Evaluation Framework

    Explore the Evaluation Framework section of this guide for additional examples of how EDDs and EDOs are incorporating these data equity practices in their CEDS.

  • Create a Regional Equity Atlas

    When identifying key indicators and metrics for racial and economic equity for the region, draw on inspiration from the National Equity Atlas and local equity atlases from San Antonio (Texas) and Atlanta (Georgia) to create a regional atlas. In addition to informing planning and engagement, these maps can support the local community in using data to incorporate equity into decision-making thoughtfully. Learn more from the National Equity Atlas and the Regional Equity Atlas.

Incorporating Equity in the Document

Following the engagement process, regions can consider incorporating equity and weaving community voice within each section of the CEDS.

Summary Background

Ground the CEDS in acknowledging the history of the local community and economy, including how these factors may have contributed to economic disparities in the past, and make a case for equitable growth going forward, which will deliver shared prosperity across the region. 

  • As the introduction to the CEDS, the Summary Background should provide a complete picture of the region, providing a story rather than just facts or figures. This section sets the stage for the entire plan. Employing a storytelling approach can bring community voices into the description and honestly acknowledge the region's history, including looking at experiences by race, geography, income, gender, and beyond. Be creative in how the story of the region is told; go beyond natural and economic assets to tell a more complete story of the region's residents and experiences.

  • Perhaps the most challenging is to apply an equity lens to the history of a regional economy and publicly acknowledge the barriers that have led to economic exclusion by race, gender, income, geography, and beyond within the region. If EDDs don’t develop a shared understanding of the wrongs of the past, acknowledge legacies of distrust between leaders and communities, and name the systemic barriers to economic prosperity, it is not possible to establish a foundation for action or repair trust. This history of the region is the opportunity to make a case for equitable development and why change needs to occur. Do not avoid acknowledging historical wrongs that have shaped the regional economy, such as the forced resettlement of indigenous residents or the legacy left by slavery.

  • Data should be used as part of this storytelling effort to paint a more accurate picture of the people and businesses that exist within the region. Data that describes the demographics, industry clusters, and income should be disaggregated to show how populations have grown in the area, how income differs across race and geography, and how the economy's structure contributes to economic disparities.

  • In the same way, that disaggregated data can be employed in telling the story of a local economy, incorporating qualitative data and community voice in telling the story of the region, historically and presently. Balance metrics and facts with community-sources narratives, and quotes from the region.

  • Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission

    Wisconsin, Pop. 145,994 (5 counties) 


    In their 2021 CEDS, the commission included a racial and ethnic disparities section within their summary background. This focus included the geographic distribution of race, poverty, household income, and employment disparities. Still, it recognized the history of segregation and resulting inequities that must be addressed.

  • Acknowledge Indigenous Histories

    In Indigenous, or First American, communities, the orator is the archivist, researcher, and knowledge keeper. They educate the community on what has been done to build the community to help inform how one should move forward. An equitable CEDS includes the history of all those who have lived in the region, including Indigenous communities. Every effort should be made to incorporate indigenous voices in the CEDS planning process, including acknowledging the indigenous history of the region if residents were forced to resettle. Learn more about the history of storytelling and oral traditions in the Indigenous community from ICDPRO (Indigenous Community Development and Prosperity).

  • Solutions Journalism’s Economic Mobility Guide

    A guide for storytellers and journalists that provide guidance, examples, and ideas for discussing topics across economic mobility and poverty, including avoiding stereotypes and orienting stories towards solutions. Learn more.

Regional Analysis

The CEDS contains a matrix of priorities, considerations, and opportunities for the region. For the CEDS to address disparities in the region, this matrix should address equity and economic growth with extensive stakeholder input. Traditionally, this section comprises an overarching or topical SWOT analysis, which is intended to encourage critical thinking, stakeholder and community feedback, and qualitative data collection. However, if this matrix isn’t based on intentional community engagement and outreach, it will not reflect the realities of the regional economy, particularly leaving out the voices of those excluded from participating in the economy. Consider how the regional analysis can use a framework that highlights assets and brings in community voices to illustrate priorities.

  • The SWOT analysis presents challenges when taking an asset-based approach and may not be the best analysis tool for the region. Consider other frameworks that may give a different, asset-based framing to the region. Several EDOs have integrated alternative frameworks within their CEDS alongside or in place of their SWOT analysis.

    Alternatives to SWOT

    • Strength, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Risks (SOAR): This analysis utilizes an asset-based framework, reframing weaknesses, aspirations, and threats as results. See how the Merrimack Valley Regional Planning Commission used the SOAR analysis in their recent CEDS.

    • Capital Frameworks: Aligned with an asset-based approach, several analyses focus on defining different types of community capital from a regional lens. The Community Capitals Framework (CCF), commonly used in rural economic development, identifies seven types of capital: built, cultural, financial, human, natural, political, and social. The WealthWorks’ capital framework identifies eight forms of capital: intellectual, financial, natural, cultural, built, political, individual, and social. See how the North Olympic Peninsula Resource and Conservation and Development Council and Region 5 Development Commission used community capital analysis in their recent CEDS.

    • Needs, Opportunities, Improvements, Strengths, Exceptions (NOISE): This analysis has more typically been used in strategic business planning, but the framing of assets and action could make it a valuable tool.

  • The analysis is only as useful as the input and feedback that informs it. A regional analysis that only represents a narrow viewpoint will not represent the realities of the region. When continuing to gather feedback through the CEDS engagement process, engage a broad and diverse group of stakeholders and community members to contribute their input to the regional analysis to ensure that this component of the CEDS is representative of many different views.

  • The regional analysis serves as a key bridge between the summary background and the action plan, translating the current state of the regional economy to future action. When identifying the components in the analysis, ensure this analysis is connected to the history presented in the Summary Background. When seeking to represent the Summary Background honestly and authentically, ensure that steps are taken to acknowledge disparities that systems have created and the opportunities to address these inequities.

  • Be specific when discussing demographic groups by race, age, gender, geography, and ability, in the regional analysis. For example, presenting educational attainment or poverty rates without highlighting who faces the most significant barriers will reduce the specificity and impact of the strategies in the Strategic Direction or Action Plan.

  • When adding specificity in demographics to the regional analysis, avoid discussing these audiences as weaknesses or threats. Framing these gaps, and therefore these communities, as deficits reinforce stereotypes and historical narratives of these individuals. Instead, when outlining these areas for growth, highlight the systemic barriers that have created these gaps that will need to be addressed to create impact.

  • Review your current CEDS

    Does the CEDS frame your analysis through the SWOT framework? Does it use an alternative framework? Would a different framework better represent the community engagement insights?

    How did stakeholder input and feedback inform your analysis? How did residents and community groups both inform and modify the analysis included in your final document?

    Does the CEDS include asset-based or deficit-based language? How do you describe historically excluded communities and their strengths?

  • What is Asset-based Language?

    Asset-based language describes situations or individuals by their strengths and potentials, rather than deficit-based language, which highlights what’s missing. Using asset-based language ensures descriptors that are people-first and describe pathways to advance economic opportunity and regional shared prosperity. In using deficit-based language, descriptors can reinforce stereotypes and stigmas. When framing the region’s opportunities, review the language and descriptors included to ensure an asset-based orientation.

Action Plan

Following the community engagement process and SWOT analysis, the next step is translating this information into strategies and goals. The action plan or strategic direction in the CEDS should be organized as laying the foundation for the region's strategic direction to tackle the inequities that set back community progress. When embedding equity within the CEDS, be clear about the root causes of equity issues, partners, and intended results. The action plan is the opportunity to step beyond just identifying disparities and inequities in the region and plan concrete steps to address them. 

  • When setting priorities, engage the CEDS strategy committee and strategic partners in discussing the systemic challenges and root causes of the disparities and inequities identified earlier in the CEDS. Ensure that the activities and objectives address systemic changes rather than symptoms of the larger problem for long-term sustainability and impact.

  • When adding clarity to the goals, include as much information as possible about the intended audience for the goal, including race, gender, age, geography, and more. With goals related to reducing disparities for specific communities through community engagement, such as young Black men or Immigrant mothers, include these specifics in program goals, metrics, and considerations for partner organizations.

  • Regions are comprised of varying density levels, including a combination of urban cores, small-to-midsize cities, and rural towns. Ensure that the action plan includes activities and objectives related to the entire region recognizing communities of all sizes. Consider opportunities to focus goals and objectives geographically, as it refers to inequities, and ensure that criteria are included in the Action Plan.

  • In the action plan, including organizational partners for each goal or objective. Ensure that these partners have community trust and relationships with the intended audience and have been involved in creating the plan.

  • As EDDs and EDOs have taken steps to create diversity, equity, and inclusion statements for their organizations and within their CEDS, steps may be taken to create an aligned diversity, equity, and inclusion action plan for accountability at the organizational level. While this is a different plan than the action plan included in the CEDS, consider how these plans may complement each other, including staff training, community engagement efforts, and beyond.

  • Address Root Causes

    To maximize the impact of the Action Plan and reduce inequities in the region, taking steps to address the root causes or systems that have created the disparities is required. Root causes are the underlying factors that cause systemic problems. By looking for root causes of problems and the multiple factors contributing to disparities, the EDD/EDO can more effectively design solutions that will solve the issue. Communities of color have faced a range of systems contributing to economic exclusion, from lender discrimination, lack of infrastructure investments, insufficient access to healthcare, and more. In crafting the action plan, ensure the cause of the problem is being addressed, rather than a symptom. Use a root cause analysis, with community stakeholders, to explore more impactful solutions. Facilitate root cause analysis discussions with resources from Tableau and County Health Rankings.

  • Create Actionable Goals

    Similar to SMART goals, goals should be detailed enough to support taking action. When setting goals, consider the following:

    Equity Considerations. Identify an equity issue found during the engagement process and the SWOT analysis and include specific demographics and geography of the affected communities.

    Partners. Before publishing the CEDS, engage strategic partners with community trust and topical expertise to support each identified goal.

    Measurements. Include specific metrics that outline how success will be measured, with both program-level outputs and macro-level outcomes.

    Time frame. Share the anticipated time frame and priority level during the duration of the CEDS, including the anticipated year of completion.

    Responsibility. In the CEDS or internally, name the staff member, organizational partner, or stakeholder that will be responsible for the goal and objectives.

  • Review your current CEDS

    Do your goals and objectives address changes in the systems that create inequities? Are these activities addressing the root cause of the challenges related to workforce, business ownership, wealth creation, and more? What are the long-term implications and sustainability of these activities?

    Do your goals and objectives include demographic information for the intended audience, including race, gender, age, and more? How are you specifically targeting resources and programs to support these identified audiences?

    Have the strategic partners identified for your goals and objectives been involved in the community engagement process and the CEDS development? How are these partners embedded in the community? Do they have community relationships and trust?

Evaluation Framework

One of the most significant challenges in implementing equitable strategies is identifying how to measure equity and impact. The outcomes and issues the EDD/EDO is seeking to address with equitable strategies take time to fix, often resulting from generational strategies that either contributed to or perpetuated marginalization across many communities and racial groups. When creating indicators for the region, consider these guideposts for the more significant long-term impact. This approach of explicitly incorporating equity within metrics and indicators can help each CEDS update build upon each other, providing direction for future advisory councils and stakeholders in the region. To create a range of guideposts for measuring the progress of equitable growth, consider three key areas: macro-level, program-level, and qualitative indicators. 

  • Build on the use of macro-level data throughout the CEDS by identifying key long-term regional equity metrics.

    Macro-level Indicators

    Data will be incorporated and referred to throughout the entire CEDS, from showcasing trends in the summary background to identifying priorities in the regional analysis. These are typically broad macro-level data points, such as income, poverty, and education across race and geography. These indicators don’t often change dramatically on five-year timelines. This section is the opportunity to outline metrics for longer-term analysis across future CEDS will help benchmark progress further into the future.

    • Disaggregate indicators by demographics. As discussed in this guide, disaggregating data is the first step in approaching data equity. Disaggregated data is needed to fully know who is impacted and how systemic barriers may influence outcomes. When measuring an overall poverty reduction, there must be a demographic lens to ensure racial, gender, or other disparities are addressed. When identifying macro-level indicators, ensure that several are demographic-specific, including race, age, gender, or geography.

    • When identifying peer regions, incorporate demographics. Some EDDs like to include a peer comparison metric within their CEDS to provide regional context and comparison for the regional economy. These comparisons are only as useful as the methodology used to identify them. In identifying peer metro areas, include equity and demographic metrics to ensure alignment with selected comparison regions, including racial segregation and income inequality.

  • Craft shorter-term metrics for programs and activities related to CEDS priorities to ensure longer-term progress.

    Program-level Indicators

    Building on macro-level indicators, incorporate program-level metrics to better illustrate the regional organization's role and foster transparency and accountability. When launching and leading programs related to identified regional priorities, set shorter-term metrics about these activities to support the longer-term macro-level indicators.

    • Consider evaluation metrics in program planning. When translating the CEDS goals into objectives and activities, ensure that all program planning includes evaluation at the outset. Using frameworks like a theory of change or a logic model, begin with the program's intended goal and then work backward to ensure that the intended impact on the community is at the center of the activities.

    • Build research partnerships. Look at local community assets, such as anchor institutions and potential university partners, including EDA-funded University Centers, with resources and insight into designing program evaluation methods. Seek ways to build deeper partnerships with these institutions, both as strong economic drivers and in the insights they can support in developing metrics and indicators for short-term and long-term success. Take steps to formalize these agreements with memorandums of understanding and data-sharing agreements to protect the privacy of any participants.

  • Incorporate community voice and tell a more complete story of the region by incorporating data from interviews, focus groups, and surveys.

    Qualitative Indicators

    Qualitative research creates the opportunity to embed community voice directly into the CEDS. Qualitative data is essential in telling the full story of the regional economy, providing deeper context and consideration to the story the larger data tells. Create opportunities for qualitative insights by hosting public forums or listening sessions, conducting targeted focus groups, and collecting broader local community surveys. These efforts should be embedded through the CEDS development process, not just at the outset or after a draft has been completed; there should be opportunities throughout to provide the community with room to provide input, feedback, and proposed changes.

    • Collect demographics. Consider how to collect demographic information for any survey, focus group, interview, or another type of qualitative research. With these demographics, parse out results, insights, and experiences by gender, race, age, and beyond. When seeking to address systemic barriers, use information that is broken out to identify differences in experiences. Consider making these identifiers optional to allow for the comfort level of participants or respondents. Additionally, explore how these questions are worded and the response selections available. For example, regarding gender, consider offering alternative options beyond just male and female to account for a range of identities.

    • Collaborate with strategic partners for data collection. When identifying strategic partners, consider how they may support the distribution of any surveys or hosting focus groups, interviews, or events. The trusted role and relationship these partners may have would allow for greater feedback and insights for the CEDS. Explore how trusted partner locations, such as public housing facilities, libraries, or public schools, in specific areas in the region could be more accessible to specific audiences. The partnerships formed during the CEDS development process significantly impact the final document and strategies within it.

  • Equitable Development Principles and Scorecard

    A coalition of community-based organizations in the Twin Cities region crafted a six-part framework and scoring system to build a collective commitment to equitable development.

    Learn more

  • Indicators for an Inclusive Regional Economy

    Created by the Center for Economic Inclusion for the Minneapolis-St. Paul region, this guide draws connections between regional indicators and cultural communities represented in the region to understand economic inclusion and exclusion better.

    Learn more

  • Review your current CEDS

    What macro-level indicators did you identify? Are any indicators focused on race, gender, ability, or geography within the region? If you identified peer regions, did you include demographic considerations? Have you explored migration data related to the region? What metrics did you use to measure inequality or segregation?

    What program-level indicators did you identify? Are any indicators focused on race, gender, ability, or geography within the region? How were these indicators integrated in program development and planning of your activities? Did you identify outputs and outcomes for programs internally? Who are your research partners?

    How did you collect qualitative information? How is this information reflected in the CEDS? Did you collect demographic information at events and in interviews, focus groups, and surveys? Did you include quotes? Did you include stories to illustrate priorities?

Economic Resilience

As illustrated by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing recovery, historically excluded communities are disproportionately affected by economic shocks or events. The region can only be adequately resilient if it is inclusive. The CEDS should address resilience efforts for residents at the greatest risk of being affected by these shocks. Inclusive economic resilience requires strong partnerships between public and private entities that actively involve the voices and perspectives of excluded communities. When defining and planning for economic resilience in the community, explore possibilities and solutions that address resilience to economic disruptions, natural disaster resilience, and climate resilience. 

  • In adjusting to a new normal beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, apply lessons learned to ensure future planning addresses gaps and needs that could be presented by other economic disruptions, such as other public health emergencies, technology shifts, the departure of major employers, and cyberattacks.

  • In understanding the inequitable impact of natural disasters on communities, incorporate equity considerations in planning for the economic impacts of natural disasters.

  • As conditions change, identify short-term and long-term steps to reduce the impact of climate change in the region.

  • Beyond Resiliency

    In considering asset-based language, the concept of resilience often puts the responsibility of success or failure on individuals and reinforces the previous status quo. Resilience preserves what is already in place rather than challenging systems and structures that reinforce inequities. When considering what resiliency looks like in the community, look at how efforts to mitigate changes can also support changing historical systems and inequities.

  • Review your current CEDS

    How does the CEDS address resiliency? How does it address resiliency for historically excluded communities who are most affected by economic shocks?

    How does the CEDS discuss recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic? How are lessons from the pandemic being implemented to improve workforce and small business resiliency for minority- and women-owned businesses?

    How does the CEDS plan for recovery and resilience to a variety of risks or potential economic disruptions, such as natural disasters, climate change, public health emergencies, cyber-attacks, or other disruptions? How will this planning impact the regional economy? Which residents will be most at-risk to these future shocks?

  • Definitions

    Resiliency

    “The capacity to recover quickly and overcome social, psychological, physical, or cultural difficulties, traumas, or challenges—often bouncing back to a state of greater wisdom and strength.” Learn more in NGIN’s Communication Resource Guide for Inclusive Economic Development.

    Economic Resiliency

    “Economic resilience aims to better prepare regions to anticipate, withstand, and bounce back from any type of shock, disruption, or stress it may experience.” Learn more from the EDA’s CEDS Content Guidelines.