The Boston Indicators Project:

1. The Boston Indicators Project: “Measuring What We Value – a Project of Greater Boston’s Civic Community” Learning Exchange: Portland OR September 27, 2010

3. The Journey from Data to Impact Data: Stakeholder Selection of Indicators Goals Benchmarks Systemic Analysis Storytelling Reports/Engagement Shared Understanding Agreement on Solutions Shared Agenda Strategic Alignment Collaborative Action Impact w w w. b o s t o n i n d i c a t o r s. o r g

4. The Boston Indicators ProjectA partnership of the Boston Foundation, City of Boston and Metropolitan Area Planning Council ITS GOALS ARE TO: 1. Democratize access to data & information; 2. Foster informed public discourse; 3. Track progress on shared civic goals. w w w. b o s t o n i n d i c a t o r s. o r g

5. The Boston Foundation Information. Innovation. Impact. MISSION As Greater Boston’s community foundation, the Boston Foundation devotes its resources to building and sustaining a vital, prosperous city and region, where justice and opportunity are extended to everyone. We fulfill this mission in 3 principal ways: Making grants to nonprofit organizations and designing special funding initiatives to address this community’s critical challenges; Working in partnership with donors and other funders to achieve high-impact philanthropy; and Serving as a civic hub and center of information, where ideas are shared, levers for change are identified, and common agendas for the future are developed. w w w. b o s t o n i n d i c a t o r s. o r g

6. The Project has a long time frame—through 2030—and two tracks: 1) Data 2) Civic Agenda Civic Agenda civic leadership, deliberation, and action on a high-leverage civic agenda 2002 2004 2006 2030 Long Term Vision Benchmarks aligned to vision for 2030 2000 1997 Project Launch Identifying indicators framework 1st Report The Wisdom of Our Choices 2002 2004 2006 Indicators Data & Reports …updated website, report every two years to measure progress towards a vision for 2030 ---deepening data, creating tools for access to data, training and education

7. DATA TRACK: A comprehensive framework –10 sectors, 6 “cross-cuts” PRIMARY SECTORS Civic Vitality Arts Economy Education Environment Health Housing Safety Technology Transportation CROSS-CUTS: Children & Youth Boston Neighborhoods Racial/Ethnic Disparities Environmental Sustainability Economic Competitiveness Fiscal Health w w w. b o s t o n i n d i c a t o r s. o r g

8. 1:DATA TRACK:Goals and measures for each sector tracked through a synthesis of reliable sources 10 Sectors, 70 Goals, 150 Indicators SOURCES: Public, Private & Nonprofit Data Academic Research Findings Periodical Coverage w w w. b o s t o n i n d i c a t o r s. o r g

9. w w w. b o s t o n i n d i c a t o r s. o r g

10. NESTED DATA Physical and social characteristics Population Characteristics Sub- neighborhood Neighborhood Municipal Geography Sub-region Regional State(s) PMSA New England National

11. ANNUAL STRATEGY SCORECARD: ARTS STRATEGY OBJECTIVE:Enhance civic and cultural vibrancy in Greater Boston STRATEGY: Strengthen and celebrate the region’s diverse audiences, artists and nonprofit cultural organizations GOAL (2014) BASE (2009) ACTUAL (2010) STATUS PROGRAMMATIC • Advocacy & Policy: • MAASH • MassCreative Capacity & Support: Orgs, Artists, Audiences Sustainable Orgs. Est. • In Progress • In Progress # Orgs in Mass CDP 1,000 0 450 Arts Capitalization Fund, # NPO’s TBD 0 3 • ArtsBoston.org • Cultural Org’s Listed • Monthly Visitors • Audience profiles • 60 • TBD • TBD • 30 • 500K • TBD • TBD • TBD • TBD All (Greater Boston) Reg’l Marketbasket Neigh. Marketbasket Base (FY08) n=152 Actual (FY09) n=89 Base (FY08) n=152 Actual (FY09) n=89 Base (FY08) Goal (2014) Goal (2014) Goal (2014) Actual (FY09) Status Schools & neighbor- hoods BPS Arts Ed. Fund ($) $550K $700K Atten- dance --paid --free --student TBD 7.4M 14.8M 1.6M 2.6M 2.4M 791K TBD TBD Neighborhood Arts Programming Chinatown, Rox. Pilot 2010 1.3M 1.9M 341K 1.2M 701K 170K TBD TBD ???? Artist Emply. --FT --PT --IC TBD 348 1,649 5,586 93 773 3,602 TBD TBD TBD TBD 348 1,649 5,586 --93 --773 --3,602 TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD % Achieving Fiscal Health CONTEXT LONG-TERM IMPACT DESIRED END STATE

12. 2: CIVIC AGENDA TRACK Stakeholder and expert convenings to surface trends, accomplishments and remaining challenges Provocative biennial Indicators Reports A “Civic Agenda” with numerical goals Forums and briefings Public discourseGOAL: Shared understanding of Boston’s key trends, challenges & opportunities as a key to aligning strategies and resources to achieve major goals w w w. b o s t o n i n d i c a t o r s. o r g

14. Administrative Overview • Longevity: 1997 – 2010 - Intensive engagement in development of framework prior to1st report in 2000; NOW - refreshed website, biennial reports based on sector and other convenings to identify trends and themes, w/ other occasional and regular short reports • Staffing: Currently 2; never more than 3.75 • Budget: $250,000 - $450,000/year ($400,000 from the Boston Foundation currently), with partners • Organization: Special initiative within with Boston Foundation with MULTIPLE partners • Governance: Focus on content, collaboration and engagement, with blurred institutional “ownership” (Leadership Group for content advice)

15. Success Factors • Ongoing support from the Boston Foundation -- with encouragement to be creative and provocative (independent analysis and perspective) • Strong internal collaboration at key times (production of biennial reports, for example) • Strong external collaboration, such as long-time partnership with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and relationships with data providers • Both/And approach to indicators selection • Respect for and broad sense of shared mission and ownership by stakeholders, participants, experts, public officials

16. Thank you.