Knowledge Exchange with the Business and Professional People for the Public Interest
(Spring 2013 - Spring 2016)
CURL and Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI) have created a Knowledge Exchange to assist BPI staff and board members in understanding demographic trends, theory, and current research related to policies aimed at reducing poverty. BPI has been a highly effective public interest law and policy center active in legislative, policy, and programmatic circles in the Chicago metropolitan area and the State of Illinois. They were given the 2012 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Accomplishments have been related to affordable housing, political reform, and education reform among other issues. The Knowledge Exchange acknowledges the collective knowledge of members of CURL’s research teams and the knowledge and experience of BPI’s past and present staff.
Key elements of the project include:
Participatory review/assessment with Staff/Board of current scope/impact of BPI work.
Monthly Knowledge Exchanges (some planned and some “on demand” in response to issues emerging out of Exchanges and the review/assessment process).
Availability to staff and board for informal discussions in between meetings.
Working with BPI to identify future substantive and process focus of the organization.
Establishing a working relationship between BPI and CURL (and other policy-oriented researchers) to access ongoing practice oriented research related to urban poverty reduction strategies.
Creation of a Knowledge Exchange resource center for BPI including the curriculum and Exchange outcomes that point to policy implications for BPI work.
Policy Briefs:
Poverty, Wage Stagnation and Employment Policy: David Cooper, Economic Policy Institute, December 9, 2014
Mental Health Policies for Children and Families: Marc Atkins, Director of the Institute for Juvenile Research (IJR), University Illinois Chicago, November 18, 2014
Poverty and the Regional Economy: Frank Beal, Senior Executive, Civic Consulting Alliance, October 14th, 2014
Reinventing Chicago's City Colleges: Cheryl Hyman, Chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, Paula Wolff, Chair of the City Colleges’ Board of Trustees, October 9th, 2014
Chicago's Homelessness and Supportive Housing System: Christine George, Loyola University Chicago, Betsy Benito, Corporation for Supportive Housing and Nancy Radner, Primo Center, September 9th, 2014
Betsy Benito, Corporation for Supportive Housing and Nancy Radner, Primo CenterCommunity Revitalization Strategies: Harrison Steans, Robin Steans, and Pat Ford, Steans Family Foundation, June 10th, 2014
Housing Mobility Strategies: Barbara Saumels, ACLU and Peter Rosenblatt, Loyola University Chicago, May 13th, 2014
Closing the Achievement Gap through School Reform: Tim Knowles, University of Chicago Urban Education Institute, April 22nd, 2014
The Learning Gap: Connections between Housing Reform and Education Reform: Richard Rothstein, Economic Policy Institute, April 8th, 2014
Addressing Poverty through Two Generation Approaches: Dr. P. Lindsay Chase Lansdale and Dr. Teresa Eckrich Sommer, Northwestern University's Institute for Policy Research, March 18th, 2014
Early Childhood Policy Priorities: Gaylord Gieseke, President of Voices for IL Children, March 11th, 2014
The Impact of Violence on Children and Youth: Implications for Policy and Practice: Dr. James Garbarino, Loyola University Chicago, February 11th, 2014
Research Team:
P. Nyden, CURL
C. George, CURL
C. Gillis, CURL Graduate Fellow
T. Neumann, CURL
E. Hoy McConnell, Executive Director, BPI
A. Polikoff, Director Public Housing Program
BPI staff and Board of Director members
Community Partner: