Every child in school is familiar with a report card – a measurement of how they're doing and where they could improve. But when it comes to measuring efforts to create and maintain a great place to live, the region lacks a similar report card. To address that need, leaders from Metro, Portland State University and United Way of the Columbia-Willamette founded the Greater Portland-Vancouver Indicators project to develop a set of "yardsticks" that measure the well-being of the entire region's people, places and prosperity – from Gresham to Hillsboro and from Wilsonville to Vancouver.
Experts from each of the "indicator" categories – education, housing, economic opportunity, health and safety, environment, arts and culture, access and mobility, and civic engagement - have been invited to assess goals, outcomes and measurable results for each of the categories that can inform future actions by government, non-profit and private sector entities to create a great region.
Elected officials and community leaders from across the metro area who are serving on the Advisory Team of the Greater Portland-Vancouver Indicators project met for the first of five quarterly meetings on Thursday, June 24. Project staff and volunteer results team members heard valuable guidance from Advisory Team members on the importance of engaging youth and stakeholders from diverse and disadvantaged communities, of using a systems approach that addresses the inter-connectedness of indicator issues, and of inviting people to participate who represent all corners of the Portland-Vancouver region and who will later be able to use the data to make a real difference.
During the first phase of development, results teams will be asked to recommend to the Advisory Team which high-level outcomes are most important to measure for each indicator category. They will then be asked to recommend the best way to measure progress toward those results, collect and analyze the first round of data and make recommendations to the Advisory Team on targets.
Future quarterly meetings of the Advisory Team will focus on a review of best practices, business planning and development, indicators and targets and finally, on issuing the first report and organizational footing.