November Newsletter

Looking Ahead — A Note From Our CEO

Accelerator for America first convened exactly one year after the tumultuous 2016 election. Three years later, Americans have elected a new president, and our mission and organization are more vital than ever.

In our unique role as a “do” tank, and not a traditional think tank, we look forward to partnering with and supporting the new Administration by developing, piloting, and sharing successful models to strengthen people's economic security and ensure the economic recovery brings everyone along.

This has been a long election and a long year. We are excited, however, for what's ahead, and look forward to continuing our partnership with you.

Please stay safe, stay healthy, and thank you for all that you do.

Aaron Thomas
Acting President and CEO | Accelerator for America

Big Wins for Transit & Infrastructure

Despite COVID-19 causing the postponement of a number of measures planned for the 2020 ballot, November 3 proved to be a big day for transit and infrastructure. We are thrilled to share that two critical measures that we partnered on — Proposition A for "Project Connect" in Austin and Advanced Transportation District (ATD) Proposition A in San Antonio — were approved with 58% and 68% of the vote, respectively! Together, these measures will invest more than $8.6 billion to improve quality of life and create middle class careers. All together, our work to support transit and infrastructure initiatives has now helped generate more than $30 billion across the country. And we have already started working on initiatives planned for 2022!

 
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Creating Collaborative Cities

The pandemic has driven cities to find quick and innovative ways to help residents in need. Bloomberg Philanthropy's new #CollaborativeCities report outlines key lessons, best practices, and guidance for cities to help them create successful strategic partnerships. Our Angeleno Card initiative, which we created in partnership with Mastercard City Possible, was featured prominently in the report. Read it here!

 
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10 Communities — One Goal

Building on the success of our Angeleno Card initiative, which rapidly distributed more than $36M in direct financial assistance to help more than 100,000 Los Angeles residents, the Open Society Foundations partnered with us to adapt and replicate this model nationwide. Through their support, we have now provided technical assistance and $500,000 in seed funding to two states and eight cities to help them establish their own financial assistance programs for people experiencing financial hardship during the pandemic.


Spotlight: Birmingham

Our partners at #BhamStrong, a public-private partnership formed to build, link, and coordinate people, projects and resources to strengthen Birmingham’s COVID-19 response, have partnered with local community-based organizations across the city to distribute $500 "BhamStrong Cash Cards" starting this month. The program is designed to assist Birmingham residents who are extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 and who may fall through the cracks of other emergency support programs. Birmingham hosted the fifth meeting of the Accelerator Advisory Council, so we are excited to be partnering with our friends there once again.

 
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#InvestMI

After a year of planning, we made the 2020 Michigan Investor Summit (originally planned for Detroit in April) a reality (albeit a virtual one) and it was a great success! The two-day summit was an initiative of the Accelerator together with our friends at the Michigan Municipal League and the Michigan Urban Core Mayors that brought together civic leaders and investors from across the country to explore Opportunity Zone investments in 13 Michigan cities.

Our Advisory Council Chair, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, addressed the summit on the power of local government. Watch his remarks below and stay tuned for updates on the connections initiated at the event.

 
 

Congratulations To:

  • The Keys Outpatient Behavioral Health Center ("Keys") for winning InvestAcadiana's virtual OZ pitch competition! We partnered with InvestAcadiana to create this initiative to connect OZ projects in the Acadiana region of Louisiana with local and national investors. Keys, which is located in an Opportunity Zone in New Iberia, LA, has been a leader in providing mental health and substance abuse prevention, education and treatment in the region for nearly 15 years.

  • Our partners at The Governance Project for the recent release of their free modeling tool GroundUp, which is designed to make community-driven development easier for municipal and regional governments. The modeling tool was made possible with generous support from our partners at the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. Explore the tool here!

In the News

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

And keep following us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram as we create national change from the ground up, from coast to coast.

Aaron Thomas
Acting President and CEO | Accelerator for America

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