URBAN INSTITUTE: Opportunity Zone Community Impact Assessment Tool

RevOZ Social Impact Council member, Brett Theodos of the Urban Institute, has been instrumental in the development of the Opportunity Zone Community Impact Assessment Tool. See the information below to learn more.

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The Opportunity Zone Community Impact Assessment Tool assesses the potential social impact of a local development project using evidence-based indicators. The tool is available for any stakeholder interested in the social impact of an eligible investment in an Opportunity Zone, whether an operating business; a residential, commercial, or industrial development; or some combination of these types.

We hope public officials, philanthropists, community organizations, and mission-driven investors use the tool to target support to projects that strengthen communities and benefit residents. Project sponsors can use the tool to assess how well their proposed project aligns with community priorities and identify areas for improvement. Public sector and community leaders can use the tool to identify projects that risk harming communities and negotiate with project sponsors to make improvements. The user guide provides information about the tool, including how to interpret project scores, how we derived our indicators, and where to find additional resources.

This version of the tool is designed for beta testing. Urban will collect information from users to improve the tool. We encourage users to answer the questions at the end of the tool to help us make improvements.

USE THE TOOL READ THE USER GUIDE PREVIEW THE TOOL QUESTIONS

After completing the tool, users will receive a scorecard summarizing the results. The Urban Institute will not publish any scorecards—these scorecards are for the user to review and share as they see fit. To see a sample scorecard based on a hypothetical project click here.

Additional Resources:
Tool Demonstration
3-Minute Overview

See more of our research on Opportunity Zones

Project Credits

Research Team: Solomon Greene, Brett Theodos​, Kathryn Reynolds, Brady Meixell, and Martha Fedorowicz
Project Management: Kathryn Reynolds and Martha Fedorowicz
Tech and Data Team: David D’Orio, Kyle Ueyama, Alice Feng, Christina Baird, and Ben Chartoff
Communications Support: Katrina Ballard, Hal Sullivan, Dan Fowler, Katy Napotnik, Jerry Ta, and Sarita Williams
Editing: Meghan Ashford-Grooms, Alex Tammaro, and Rob Abare

 

This tool was developed with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Kresge Foundation supported piloting and testing of the tool in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

Lisa Merage