What Counts

Harnessing Data for America’s Communities

Meet the Authors

Dan Rinzler

Dan Rinzler is Special Projects Coordinator at the Low Income Investment Fund. Mr. Rinzler manages a variety of strategic initiatives at LIIF, such as the Social Impact Calculator and internal infrastructure to support development of new and innovative programs and capital products. Prior to LIIF, Mr. Rinzler helped design and manage low-income housing programs at the municipal and state level, and worked as an urban planning consultant.

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From the Blog

The Urgent Need for Data Equity, Justice, and Sovereignty: Reimagining Civic Data for a Fairer Future

Transforming civic data in the United States is not just a technical challenge—it is a matter of public health, democracy, and justice. The systems that collect and interpret data about our communities shape nearly every dimension of life: where resources are allocated, how schools are funded, which neighborhoods receive investment, and ultimately, who has the opportunity to thrive. To understand the urgency of this transformation, imagine navigating an unfamiliar city with a broken compass. It appears reliable, guiding each decision with confidence, yet every step quietly leads you further off course. Civic data today functions in a similar way: it...

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Quotables

"There is tremendous power in data; it enables better decision making and wiser resource allocation. There is good reason that we’re having a national conversation about how the social sector can become more data driven. Much is at stake."

— Annie Donovan and Rick Jacobus, CoMetrics

"We cannot advance effective policy if we do not know what works, or if we—at a minimum—can’t clearly demonstrate that certain policies work. Lacking an evidence base will almost always be fatal in this pursuit."

— Raphael Bostic, Judith and John Bedrosian Chair in Governance and the Public Enterprise, University of Southern California, Sol Price School of Public Policy

"This book addresses the role of data, its sources, its types and its importance for tracking outcomes and progress. The strategic use of data to find common ground across silos, to monitor what is working in communities, and to produce evidence of need and progress that will convince policy makers and the public, each of whom may have different perspectives, cannot be overstated. What Counts is a must read for practitioners and policy makers striving to improve lives and improve communities."

— James S. Marks, Senior Vice President and Director, Program Portfolios, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

"Code for America is dedicated to making government work better for the people, by the people, using technology, design, and—critically—data. Some of the most promising efforts to use data to improve residents’ lives are catalogued in What Counts: Harnessing Data for America’s Communities. The book also makes the case for collaboration across sectors and disciplines if we are to realize the enormous promise of data to make our communities better places to live and work. This is a must-read for public sector innovators and their civic partners."

— Jennifer Pahlka, Founder and Executive Director, Code for America

"What Counts provides practical examples of the potential payoffs and challenges of using data to tackle critical issues facing cities today—health, housing and youth development. These excellent essays set the stage for a conversation about how to take advantage of the wealth of data to further the public good, and raise the expectations for local leaders to use data to direct priorities and make decisions."

— Stephen Goldsmith, Daniel Paul Professor of the Practice of Government and the Director of the Innovations in American Government Program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government

"Successful community building requires many elements—a clear understanding of needs and opportunities, engagement of residents, support from all levels of government, collaboration among people and across programs. It also requires knowledge of what is happening in real time, whether strategies are working and how they can be improved. Building on the message of integrated, collaborative community development in Investing in What Works for America’s Communities, the current volume, What Counts: Harnessing Data for America’s Communities helps us understand how to efficiently turn the volumes of data now available into the information needed to achieve the results communities want."