Spartanburg Network for Economic Mobility

What is Economic Mobility? Economic mobility is the ability for an individual or a family to change one’s own economic status by utilizing the systems, resources and services provided in their community. Did you know that a child born in poverty in Spartanburg has only a 4.3% chance of mobility into the top 20% of income earners?

The Team has been analyzing this and other data alongside field experts utilizing multiple databases, research organizations and the facilitation of focus groups throughout the City of Spartanburg. The Spartanburg Network for Economic Mobility serves as a hub for data synthesis and community-centered conversation where collective impact is key.

Click Here to access the 2018 MDC Southern Economic Mobility Project.

• Create a detailed systems and data analysis of Spartanburg County youth in the lowest income bracket and the barriers to economic mobility
• Align and connect initiatives focused on economic mobility to foster collaborative action and collective impact
• Develop and implement an integrated action plan that fosters a dual-customer system (youth and employers), accelerating youth mobility efforts
• Change the odds of economic mobility for youth and young adults by creating an opportunity agenda with multiple pathways and access points
• Become a healthy community that can challenge itself, and be a place where people want to live and thrive

The Network for Southern Economic Mobility was created and is managed by MDC, a Durham, NC-based nonprofit organization that has worked with communities and institutions in the South for 50 years to create equitable policies and programs. The first cohort of cities, which associated in 2016, are Athens, GA; Chattanooga, TN; Greenville, SC; and Jacksonville, FL. The second cohort, which began in 2017, are Little Rock, AR; Savannah, GA; and Spartanburg, SC.