Inclusion Strategy

Our inclusion strategy is informed by the work of Policy Link which aspires to these outcomes:

• Equitable growth. Opportunity Zones should leverage tax incentives to create good jobs, increase economic security and mobility, and eliminate the racial wealth gap. Projects in the zones should result in jobs that provide wages that support a dignified standard of living, full benefits and workers rights, and safe and healthy working conditions. Developers and investors of color should have access to contracting opportunities in the zones.
• Development without displacement. In addition to bringing economic opportunity and vitality to disinvested communities, development in Opportunity Zones should foster greater housing affordability and security for families most at risk of displacement, including low-income households and households of color.
• Healthy communities of opportunity. Investments should drive equitable growth and prosperity for current low-income residents and communities of color within the zones.  Projects should increase services available to vulnerable populations such as affordable transportation options, health-care facilities, healthy food retail, and quality education services.

Erie's Public Schools: Tech After Hours

Erie's Public Schools Adult Education Program Tech After Hours focus is to fulfill education, instructional, and support services for the Erie Community to earn industry credentials in the focused fields of training and high school diploma program.

Training Includes the fields of welding, machinist, construction trades and health careers. The programs are designed as a path to industry-recognized certifications in the health careers, construction trades, welding and machining fields.

Tooling-U, OSHA 10, resume/portfolio and soft skill development are part of each program. Individualized training programs can be designed based on an employer's needs related to a particular O-NET code or defined by the employer for their employment requirements.

Community Centers

Erie features a robust and vibrant network of Community Centers.  The community centers offer a wide range of services including housing assistance, after school programs, childcare, financial empowerment training, adult learning, workforce training, and more.

The Centers include:

• The Booker T. Washing Center
• The JFK Center
• The MLK Center
• Quality of Life Learning Center

Working together in a collaborative manner, the Community Center's have recently created the Minority Community Investment Coalition – aimed at better coordinating services, and speaking as one voice as they seek more financial resources.

Eagle's Nest Leadership Corporation

The Eagle's Nest Leadership Corporation, a recognized 501 c(3) non-profit organization, is a think tank of community leaders dedicated to the dynamics of vision, educational initiatives, career development, and community civility.

The Eagle's Nest Leadership Corporation is a collaborative effort from a multitude of solutions. The program instills hope for a future by providing a concrete plan for a pathway to a career (not a job), it stimulates the economy, it transforms the mind for life-readiness instead of the "just getting by" mentality, it improves education and financial literacy, and partners with major corporate institutions who are investing in the lives of our youth because of the reality of their potential and the potential of the programs.

Boy's Academy

The assignment of the Eagle's Nest African-American Boys Academy, an institution dedicated to the intellectual stimulation of elementary-age boys, is to introduce and reinforce the values of citizenship, self-esteem, self-determination, and honor by exploring African-American culture through historical and contemporary analysis.

School of Financial Literacy

Provides a robust, multi-faceted program designed to give students the tools and resources needed to obtain personal financial success after high school.  At the end of the program, each student will receive a monetary scholarship to invest in a savings account.

Erie's Public Schools: A Point of Pride

Here's some quick facts about the public schools of Erie.

• Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy – Ranked 4th high school in Pennsylvania by US News and World Report.
• 2018 – created a game-changing, 5-year Strategic Plan that places an emphasis on student success at every level. Over 140 school and community leaders were actively involved in the process.
• 2017 completed the largest reconfiguration in the school district's history that provided immediate and measurable relief to operational and maintenance costs of underutilized buildings.
• Attracted an additional $14 million in annual funding from the State of Pennsylvania.
• Spearheaded fair funding reform at the State level to ensure that future funding would be in place to help meet the aspirational benchmarks of the Strategic Plan.

Erie's Institutional Capacity