Ideas Challenge Winners Announced

Creating Portable Benefits through a competitive grant program to encourage employers and organizations to innovate and experiment with benefits systems that are especially designed to serve workers outside of traditional full-time positions.

 

• Expanding Access to Education: Councilmember Elizabeth Brown (Columbus, OH)
  ACCESS (Affordable College and Career Education Starts with Saving) to address barriers preventing low-income youth from achieving a post-secondary education. Participants receive job placement, financial education, and mentoring.

• Securing our Communities and our Planet: Councilmember Andria McClellan (Norfolk, VA)
  Resilient Zoning Code for a Coastal Community to create the most resilient zoning code in the nation to reduce future risks to the built environment. The new zoning code includes elevated building requirements, additional landscaping and open space, and a Resilient Quotient — a point-based system for new development to mitigate risk and support sustainable practices.

• Empowering Disadvantaged Populations: Mayor Christopher Cabaldon (West Sacramento, CA)
  West Sacramento On-Demand: Mobility for All, which established a first-of-its-kind microtransit service that fills the gap between ride-sharing and traditional bus service to serve all members of his community, including youth, seniors, and the disabled, at a low, flat rate.

• Rebuilding Community: Councilmember Nirva LaFortune (Providence, RI)
  The Transit Corridor Opportunity Program (TCOP), which recognizes the need for systemic solutions to revitalizing neighborhoods by addressing access to reliable transportation, affordable housing production, employment opportunity, and a ready workforce.