Dear friends and family,
The "Greater New Orleans Community Data Center" is now "The Data Center."
Short and sweet.
But "short and sweet" is not the reason for the change. We’ve changed our name in recognition of our growing regional interconnections.
Here's our story...
In 1997, one woman, expert in data-driven decisionmaking and committed to developing a learning organization, brought together a team of experts in information design, interface usability, and community capacity-building to develop the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center web site. The initial web site presented the most reliable, in-demand data, in a user-centered design, with limitations explained in simple, clear language. The web site was a hit among local nonprofit and grassroots leaders, drawing nearly five times the traffic of similar web sites serving larger markets.
Then Hurricane Katrina hit, and suddenly the whole world wanted data about New Orleans. Traffic to our web site exploded, and the Data Center team began collaborating with federal agencies, national researchers, and decisionmakers all over the country. The Data Center became the local authority for tracking post–Katrina recovery with “The New Orleans Index” developed in partnership with the Brookings Institution. This research helped inform the prioritization of rebuilding efforts and we learned that our audience craved not only data, but also analysis.
In the years since the storm, we’ve provided action-oriented reports that have informed decisions around the rebuilding of affordable housing, blight eradication, economic development, and more. Our economic and demographic research has revealed that, nearly a decade after Hurricane Katrina, Southeast Louisiana is more interconnected and our local issues are more regional in scope.
Our new brand reflects an understanding of these growing regional interconnections. Along with it, we've got a new web site that makes our expanding collection of research easier to sort through. Our featured research such as “The New Orleans Index,” our reports on the economy and workforce, and our briefs on demographic changes are more prominently featured and easier to find. And, we still make all of our original New Orleans data products available on our web site, including our wildly popular “Neighborhood Data Profiles.”
Check it out:
Our new name and web site enhance our ability to forward our mission of building prosperous, inclusive, and sustainable communities by making informed decisions possible.
With an ongoing commitment to this community and evidence-based decisionmaking,
The Data Center team
Ben Horwitz, Vicki Mack, George Hobor, Allison Plyer,
and Charlotte Cunliffe (Founding Director)
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The Data Center is supported in part by Baptist Community Ministries, blue moon fund, Foundation for Louisiana, Greater New Orleans Foundation, Keller Family Foundation, Institute for Mental Hygiene, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, Kabacoff Family Foundation, Methodist Health Systems Foundation, Metropolitan Opportunities Fund, RosaMary Foundation, Stirling Properties, United Way of Southeast Louisiana, Walton Family Foundation, Zemurray Foundation, and data users like you.
