Page 27 - BusinessWest May 30, 2022

new apprenticeship models to mini- mize employee retention challenges. Another potentially groundbreaking study involves using data gathered for COVID-related purposes to develop new and more affordable ways of pro- viding healthcare services to consum- ers instead of funneling people into highly complex systems that they have to navigate on their own.
A core assignment for Melnik’s group is its work with the Secretary of the Commonwealth preparing for cen- sus enumeration, which is the basis for federal funding allocation and congres- sional seats. With help from UMDI’s population- estimates program, the state’s census data is head of class in the nation. This is especially notewor- thy since census data is relied upon heavily for resource allocations and predicting where jobs will be. It also informs decisions around population projections used by the MassDOT and Mass. School Building Authority for
“Housing is the most central public policy question when we talk about Massachusetts.”
school district planning.
The group’s portfolio also includes a
two-phase initiative with Way Finders that uses Greater Springfield as a case study on housing market affordability. With a focus on upward mobility and wealth creation, the study seeks to answer what it’s like for low- to mod- erate-income families to live in a high- cost state.
“Wages are so much lower in the Pioneer Valley that more than 54% of renters are housing cost-burdened,” Melnik says. Additionally, the majority of those burdened are people of color.
“Housing is the most central public policy question when we talk about Massachusetts,” he explains. This is because it tells the story needed to inform public policy, including the future of transportation.
Another of the institute’s long-term projects is the Head Start program, which it has been involved with since 2003.
UMDI’s New England Head Start Training and Technical Assistance group is co-directed by Rosario Dominguez, M.P.A. Dominguez says that when people think of the Head Start program, early childhood educa- tion is often the only thing that comes to mind. However, that barely scratches the surface of what the program does, as it begins at pregnancy and contin- ues to support families through college.
With this long-term intervention approach, the program addresses intergenerational poverty by using what goes on in the classroom as a lens for examining how families can
reach their financial goals, ultimately strengthening entire communities. Through the partnerships it forms, the program has the reach to solve issues much larger in scale than early child- hood development, including inform- ing policies that move social equity and upward mobility forward by helping education and social service organiza- tions improve their systems.
Beyond its regional and national footprints, Ken LeBlond, Marketing Communications manager, said UMDI also handles international work. Fund- ed by the United States Department of State, the institute has contributed to economic mobility at the global level
since 2004.
This includes its exchange program
in which groups of 20-30 people from about 60 countries, such as Argentina, Pakistan, and Eastern Europe, come to Western Massachusetts each summer. The groups travel the region engag- ing in active learning, helping at the Amherst food bank and senior center, and working on river cleanup projects.
A Look Ahead
In August 2021, the Donahue Insti- tute welcomed Uvin as its executive director. Uvin had previously served as assistant secretary of Education under the Obama Administration.
Working alongside Associate Direc- tor Carol Anne McGowan, Uvin holds the distinction of being the institute’s first executive director to be hired externally.
When asked what is ahead for UMDI, Uvin talked about alternative models for providing health care and exploring different educational models in challenged communities to lift entire neighborhoods through training and interventions.
Additionally, Uvin is interested in looking at both the supply and demand sides of regional economies to shape
Donahue
Continued on page 45
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