Evaluation of the We Rise Together Initiative

(2022 - Ongoing)

CURL is conducting a multi-year evaluation research project on the Chicago Community Trust’s We Rise Together Initiative (WRT) in collaboration with colleagues from Quinlan School of Business and Institute for Racial Justice at Loyola and the community-based organization MAPSCorps. They train high school and college youth and employ them (often in their first jobs) in doing research and asset mapping across historically marginalized communities in Chicago.  The WRT Initiative is aimed at creating racially equitable economic recovery from COVID-19 in Chicago. To accomplish this, they are making investments into completing construction of organizations and businesses in marginalized Chicagoland communities (called “neighborhood anchors”), employment networks aimed at getting Black and Latinx quality jobs, and small minority-owned businesses. 

To evaluate the impact of the WRT, the team is taking a broad mixed-methods approach. We will be using a quasi-experimental comparative approach to analyze data from many datasets, including publicly available datasets along with MasterCard point of sale data and SafeGraph cell phone location data. Youth from MAPSCorps will also be conducting a small business survey and a local resident survey along with mapping assets in the areas surrounding each of the WRT’s “neighborhood anchor” investments. Finally, the team will be conducting focus groups with community members and interviews with project stakeholders in order to understand the perceptions and lived experiences of impact on local communities. 

Research Team:

• G. Spitz, CURL

• D. Van Zytveld, CURL

• D. Lewis, CURL

• S. Cunnane, CURL Undergraduate Fellow

• M. Henfield, Institute of Racial Justice

• H. Price, Institute of Racial Justice

• K. Alexander, Quinlan School of Business

• A. Krasnikov, Quinlan School of Business

• J. Han, Quinlan School of Business

• T. Classen, Quinlan School of Business

• Nia Abdullah, MAPSCorps

• Maxine Jeremiah, MAPSCorps

• Albert Olea, MAPSCorps

Community Partner:

•  MAPSCorps