Giving Compass' Take:

• Alan Berube, Julie Bosland, Solomon Greene, and Chantel Rush share common themes among American cities working to build shared prosperity.

• How can philanthropy help cities engage in building shared prosperity? What research is still needed to inform this work? 

• Learn about the future of work and family prosperity.

The United States is a country of tremendous economic opportunity. However, that opportunity isn’t shared equally. Currently, long-standing wealth gaps across race, gender, and class are widening, fueled by evolving technologies, shifting labor markets, changing demographics, and continued racial bias.

Instead of leveraging these economic and social forces to broaden individual and community pathways to prosperity, the U.S. federal government is continuing to withdraw from major areas of investment in families and communities, including crucial safety net supports. Across the country, cities are stepping up to fill this void, buoyed by strong public trust, a lack of partisan gridlock, and a commitment to what we call shared prosperity.

While the specific approach of each city is unique, there are three common principles that underlie the strategies to ensure shared prosperity in cities:

  1. Continuously creating new, high-quality opportunities for workers and businesses in an expanding nation;
  2. Increasing economic mobility for individuals and families while narrowing significant disparities by race, ethnicity, and gender; and
  3. Building and supporting communities where all residents can experience a high quality of life and actively participate in charting their local future.

Read the full article about shared prosperity by Alan Berube, Julie Bosland, Solomon Greene, and Chantel Rush at Brookings.