“Today, we are celebrating the passion, collaborative spirit, and ingenuity of Connecticut residents to push forward proposals toward bettering their cities and our state economy.”
HARTFORD, CT -- Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s words echoed throughout Real Art Ways in Hartford during an April celebration honoring ten Connecticut city teams pursuing collaborative and ambitious economic development strategies to improve the lives of their low-income residents through the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Working Cities Challenge—a grant competition designed to build cross-sector (public, private, and nonprofit) collaboration to solve issues impacting the lives of lower-income residents and communities of color.
The teams were awarded $15,000 grants to support a six-month “design phase,” and over the past six months, have been doing the difficult work of building their collaboratives, engaging their communities in a meaningful way, and refining their initiative proposals. Many Connecticut teams’ efforts are focused on workforce development and take into consideration racial equity challenges that have persisted in the state.
In early 2018, up to five winning teams will be selected for larger awards expected to be $450,000-$475,000 to implement their initiatives over a three-year period. Funding for the competition is provided by the State of Connecticut, national and local philanthropic, public, and private organizations; the Boston Fed provides leadership and strategic staff support.
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Contact:
David Radcliffe
Director
Connecticut Working Cities Challenge
david.radcliffe@bos.frb.org
Website: bostonfed.org/workingcities