Stories of Philanthropic Leadership in Advancing Regional and ...

in Los Angeles, Ford’s Anthony now sees a maturingprocess in the number of foundations wanting tolearn about this “clearing house” of ideas.Regional/Neighborhood Equity ImpactsFor LAANE’s Janis-Aparicio, the impacts are directlyrelated to early decisions: “You have to decide whatthe carrot is, and what the stick is. For the [LosAngeles] airport project, the carrot is the eliminationof groups that would have mired the project inlitigation and the prospect of getting approval fromreticent council members. The stick is the potentialfor the project to fall apart if it does not develop awin-win approach.”Civic and political leaders, including Congresswoman Maxine Waters andRev. Jesse Jackson, join in a LAANE demonstration. (Source: LAANE).According to Greg LeRoy, executive director of GoodJobs First, a national resource center promotingcorporate and government accountability, “It isinevitable for the appeal of CBAs to grow a lot—particularly for the ‘back to city’ movement.” LeRoyfurther states that, “Eight of the ten largest cities areexperiencing growth, but creating growth also meanscreating friction, gentrification, and displacement; or,it can be a mechanism for people to organize anddetermine the best way to harness benefits ofthose who have hung in there with the dark yearsof the cities. CBAs are a great way to keep peoplepositively engaged.”“It is a losing strategy to just be againstdevelopment,” advises LeRoy. “The political lesson isthat if you only have a negative interest, you will bepainted as anti-economic development.”ResultsFor the Veatch Program, poverty, equity, andstrengthened democracy are key goals in its grantdecisions. “CBAs result in living wage jobs going tolow-income workers, affordable housing beingconstructed, training programs that lead to qualityjobs, and a host of other beneficial outcomes,” saysQuintana. “But equally as important,” he adds, “theyreaffirm that economic development—particularlywhen fueled or supported by public dollars orbenefits—must be coupled with democraticaccountability.”“The significance of this work is evident in its successacross the country,” observes New World’s Jones.“Coalitions are forming to come together and figureout how to harness the resources made available bytheir tax dollars to spur projects that meet their needs.”Lessons LearnedFor the Veatch Program, according to Quintana, “Akey lesson of the living wage movement was thatstrategic and broad-based coalitions of communitygroups, labor unions, and congregations couldeffectively address issues of equity and democraticdecisionmaking and win public policies that liftedlow-income people and communities out of poverty.”“Another lesson,” continues Quintana, “was thatpublic subsidies, tax benefits, contracts, and grantscould be used to address issues of poverty and socialequity.” Despite notable and impressive victories,Quintana believes the CBA movement is still “veryyoung.” He clarifiesthat, “The challengeis to grow thismovement, so thatmore developmentprojects across thecountry result incommunity benefits.In addition, there arepublic policies thatneed to be enacted atthe state level across the country to ensure thateconomic development that is driven or supportedby public dollars leads to community benefits.”“It is a losing strategy to justbe against development. Thepolitical lesson is that if youonly have a negative interest,you will be painted as antieconomicdevelopment.”— Greg LeRoyFor New World, local efforts are envisioned to leadto larger geographic scopes. “With local victories, thework expands towards state and regional impacts,”notes Jones. From Ford’s perspective, the lessons areEQUITABLE PUBLIC INVESTMENTPart III: Section 1: Promoting Equitable Public Investment 22