Explore Our Initiatives

Through our various programs and initiatives, NGIN provides technical assistance, capital, and innovative strategies to cities and communities.

FEATURED

Small and Midsized City Hub

Created with the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Small and Midsized City (SMC) Hub is a practitioner-led community with opportunities for learning, technical assistance, advocacy, and connections to capital.

Equity Impact Investments

Equity Impact Investments offers tailor-made training and in-depth localized partnership support for Community-Based Organizations and Economic Development Organizations.

Supporting Environmental Equity through Data (SEED)

SEED is designed to empower communities to become local data champions, capable of advocating for data equity and implementing robust data plans for EPA grant reporting as well as environmental and economic opportunities.

Advancing Economic Mobility (AEM)

NGIN leads Advancing Economic Mobility (AEM) to support local economic leaders adopt data, tools, and knowledge resources to advance economic mobility in their communities for low and middle income workers and residents. This project is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Inclusive Recovery Initiative

Funded by the Economic Development Administration, this program supported six Economic Development Districts incorporate inclusive economic recovery actions into regional economic strategies and develop a National Community of Practice.

Sub-Initiatives

FEATURED

Economic Inclusion Incubator

The Economic Inclusion Incubator, a sub-initiative of NGIN’s Small and Midsized Cities Hub, is designed to empower Small and Midsized Cities (SMCs) to implement inclusive economic development strategies.

Learn. Explore. Activate. In Place (LEAP)

Learn, Explore, Activate in Place (LEAP) is a transformative sub-initiative of NGIN’s Small and Midsized Cities (SMC) Hub, designed to bring together delegations of community and economic leaders from SMCs to explore and implement innovative models for inclusive economic growth in exemplary cities.

Projects

Assessing Equitable Outcomes of Place-Based Innovation through NSF Engines

NGIN was awarded a research grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate equitable place-based innovation. The NSF Engines aim to create regional-scale, technology-driven, inclusive innovation ecosystems throughout the United States. NGIN’s project will identify equitable metrics and benchmarks and provide insights into advancing equity across regional innovation ecosystems.

This funding will fuel essential research led by Principal Investigator Mari Kate Mycek and Co-Principal Investigator Sarah Crane, with research support from our partners at SSTI and the University of Michigan Economic Growth Institute.

Best Practices in Equity in ARPA Investments

NGIN supports the University of Michigan’s Economic Growth Institute to analyze the equity outcomes of EDA’s American Rescue Plan Programs. In 2024, we launched "Interweaving Equity in Place-Based Economic Development: An early analysis of equity within the Build Back Better Challenge Awardees," commissioned by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, which provides an in-depth analysis of how equity is being integrated into economic development efforts by the 21 coalitions selected for the Build Back Better Regional Challenge (BBBRC).

Advancing Civic Infrastructure and Inclusive Procurement

Prudential Financial supports NGIN in fostering inclusive growth in Newark by connecting community and economic development leaders to expand their knowledge, capacity, and insights on civic infrastructure. NGIN partnered with Prudential Financial to take Newark leaders on a LEAP (Learn. Explore. Activate. In Place.) to Tulsa, OK focused on civic infrastructure—you can watch the recap here—and in 2025, NGIN will bring a delegation of Newark leaders on a LEAP learning trip focused on inclusive procurement.

Expanding Economic Participation in Clean Regional Economies

NGIN is partnering with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) to support regional green growth investment strategies, especially clean energy investments. NGIN engages with community-based organizations and regional economic organizations working at the intersection of climate, equity, and BIPOC wealth creation in climate-related sectors. Additionally, NGIN has a framework for communities to expand their economic participation in climate-related sectors.