Three NNIP Partners Support Local Data for Equitable Communities Grantees

Three member organizations of the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership (NNIP) are collaborating on projects that were selected to receive grants in July 2026 through the Local Data for Equitable Communities program. The program is a collaboration between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Urban Institute that helps nonprofits use data to catalyze local action, address inequities, and ensure all residents can live healthy lives. 

Each of the program’s grantee organizations receive a $50,000 grant to lead a local project focused on improving conditions in their communities, such as housing quality, access to healthy food, access to public transit, adaptations to climate change, and environmental justice. In addition, the Urban Institute provides grantees with technical assistance and facilitates opportunities to learn from their peers. 

All the projects are structured on the premise that community members have the insights needed for solutions and can use local data to shape effective policies, attract funding, and address structural inequities:

• Chicago: The Institute for Housing Studies (IHS) at DePaul University is collaborating with Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community to identify displacement risks and advocate for community benefits near the “78,” a planned 62-acre redevelopment project that includes a new soccer stadium, a corporate campus, and thousands of new homes. IHS will analyze housing market conditions and how declining affordability might amplify affordability pressures in these communities.
• Philadelphia: The Urban Health Collaborative at Drexel University is supporting Puentes de Salud to explore how structural, social, and institutional factors shape healthy food access in the city. The project team will use a mixed-methods data collection approach, including surveying residents, mapping food assets, and analyzing neighborhood-level indicators, to inform the inaugural Food Access Collective convening and the city’s Food Policy Advisory Council’s priorities.
• San Antonio: Community Information Now is working with the Bexar County Community Health Collaborative and UT San Antonio to capture air quality in neighborhoods adjacent to the former Kelly Air Force Base and facilities that recycle metal and auto parts. The project team will assess how well the facilities are complying with new regulations that aim to reduce the harmful effects on air quality.

The Urban Institute (Urban) has coordinated NNIP for 30 years. With partner organizations in 32 cities, NNIP helps local communities use data to shape strategies and investments so that all neighborhoods are places where people can thrive. Urban’s work with NNIP inspired this grant program’s creation. 

We hope these projects will inspire other communities, funders, and policymakers to invest in local capacities to use data and tap into community wisdom to drive change.