Our Work

We deploy concessionary, flexible debt from socially motivated investors to improve the lives of low-income people and the communities where they live.

Racial Equity Here supports five U.S. cities committed to improving racial equity and advancing opportunity for all.

We support ambitious data-driven, results-oriented cross-sector partnerships committed to solving complex social and economic problems.

We blend public, private, and philanthropic financial resources in new ways to better meet the needs of cities and improve the lives of low-income people.

Using data in decision-making is one the biggest challenges for collective impact initiatives. We’ve created several free resources to help you better manage the use of data for collective impact.

The City Accelerator, an initiative of Living Cities and the Citi Foundation, works within and across cities to advance and promote the spread of promising innovations that will have a significant impact in the lives of residents.

We work with and support selected leaders to test, adopt, and apply a new type of urban practice aimed at dramatically improving the economic well-being of low-income people in cities.

We work at the intersections of learning, information, story, and technology to bring people and resources together to deepen and accelerate promising solutions to social problems.

Our new blog series, with contributions from our members, grantees and many other leaders, highlights ongoing efforts across the U.S. that show promise of contributing to closing the racial opportunity gaps.

Living Cities and the National Democratic Institute are launching a new partnership to find and tell stories of civic innovation in selected megacities around the world.

We are working with Code for America and the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership to support teams of civic technologists, data practitioners and government officials in cities to develop data and technology solutions to address pressing pro…

In a new book, our Chief Impact Officer shares tools, ideas and best practices for change-makers who want to do better, faster.

Our signature, multi-city initiative supports cities that are reshaping programs, policies and resource allocation to achieve enduring change that benefits low-income people.

We are investing in Pay for Success partnerships to test new ways of investing in human capital, and to develop a commercially viable market for doing so.

We work closely with networks of practitioners and civic leaders who are at the forefront of change aimed at dramatically improving the economic well-being of low-income people in cities.

Addressing the complex challenges cities face today requires collective effort from across sectors: public, private and nonprofit.

In 2008, responding to the impact of concentrated foreclosures on urban neighborhoods, and in the absence of promising large-scale solutions, Living Cities launched an initiative to catalyze, test and learn from 10 local pilot initiatives to reclaim…

Living Cities established a working group with Board Members and their staff to approve grants to define a common funding and knowledge agenda that would help low-income families move from poverty to financial stability.

From 2010-2013, Living Cities supported several cities experimenting with the potential of Anchor Institutions—local universities and hospitals to transform economic systems

Recognizing the incredible challenges cities face to stabilize neighborhoods struggling with foreclosures and abandonment, in 2010 we convened a Neighborhood Stabilization Boot Camp in partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Develo…

Living Cities launched the Admiral Center in 2009 for the express purpose of maximizing the engagement of celebrities in systems change on behalf of low income people.

Living Cities worked with HUD, the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University, and other partners to help create a plan that would facilitate increased comprehensiveness, integration and overall effectiveness of region…

We have worked to increase affordable access to job opportunities and essential services by advancing equitable transit-oriented development financing strategies and exploring the potential of other emerging models.

We partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies to support a growing network of cities with dedicated innovation teams that developed and deployed bold ideas to tackle the biggest issues facing city governments.

We developed a research and experimentation agenda that helps communities to strengthen their ability to deploy investment for public purpose.

The Brookings Institution and Living Cities State and Metropolitan Prosperity Collaborative was a peer exchange forum intended to promote deeper collaboration between state and metropolitan leaders on issues critical to creating economic opportunity.

The Green Economy Working Group was established to provide a forum for our board members and their staff to align and coordinate efforts in the green economy, identify emerging areas of opportunity in the field, and drive an agenda that promotes eco…

Living Cities and our member institutions invested together in the Gulf Coast, where the magnitude of the post-Katrina challenge was unprecedented and the groups and organizations requiring help were exceptionally burdened.