NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Today community development, place-based economy, and Opportunity Zones have captured the attention of investors, fund managers, policymakers, and community advocates. Proponents of Opportunity Zone anticipate that the policy will unlock billions of dollars to support vital community development projects and create economic opportunity in distressed areas. At the same time, we are also concerned that even if new private investments flow to Opportunity Zones and result in significant positive (or negative) impact for those communities, if we don’t measure it, we’ll never understand the change. If un-checked, Opportunity Zones could have the most significant potential negative impact on the neighborhoods, they intend to help.

Fortunately, we have the frameworks from IRIS+, SDG, and Impact Management Project to measure and manage the impact of Opportunity Zone investments.

The key element of all the frameworks is outcome measurement and objective monitoring. Community Impact Fund metrics should track real change, with an understanding that baselines from which the outcomes can be measured, the outcomes themselves, and any risk factors. Both quantitative and qualitative measures are valuable indicators of progress.

Join us to learn more about Impact Measurement and Management of the Impact of Investments in Community Development Investments.