The capacity to leverage policy advocacy and systems change is critical to scaling up and sustaining efforts to ensure that youth living in Promise Neighborhoods are healthy and connected to the necessary services and supports to prepare them for college and career success. During this webinar, Rosa Ramirez Richter (Healthy Schools Campaign) discussed best practices to achieve healthy nutrition and active living through policy advocacy and will highlight successful efforts in Chicago to build a parent-driven coalition that successfully reforms food and wellness policies at the district-level. Mk Nguyen (St. Paul Promise Neighborhood) and Patrick Ness (Amherst H. Wilder Foundation) shared St. Paul Promise Neighborhood’s successful efforts to achieve and sustain Promise Neighborhoods results by: building a diverse and effective coalition, partnering with community residents, and forging strong relationships with elected officials at the local, state, and federal level.

Parent and community engagement is critical to achieving and sustaining Promise Neighborhoods results. Moreover, research demonstrates that children whose parents are involved in their reading and learning are more likely to have stronger academic performances and fewer absences. During this webinar, Marilyn Joseph (Harlem Children’s Zone) and Alysha Price and Michelle Martin (Northside Achievement Zone) lifted up strategies to ensure that parents are: reading to their children, preparing them for college and career success, and equipped with the skills and access needed to meaningfully contribute to the achievement of results at every stage of the cradle to career continuum (GPRAs 12-14).

During this webinar, Caitlin Smith (Social Solutions) presented updates to the PNI Impact Report and answered related questions. Jose Mireles and Monica Martin (Chula Vista Promise Neighborhood) shared strategies to align programmatic staff and external partners with the framework and activities required to secure high-quality collection, input, management, and reporting, of data

To illustrate the impact of the Promise Neighborhoods program's cradle-to-career approach, the U.S. Department of Education and the Center for the Study of Social Policy developed a series of videos titled “Pipeline Profiles.” This video is the third in its series and highlights the work that Chula Vista Promise Neighborhood is doing to leverage its community partnerships into strategies that prepare young people for college and career success!

To illustrate the impact of the Promise Neighborhoods program's cradle-to-career approach, the U.S. Department of Education and the Center for the Study of Social Policy, developed a series of videos titled “Pipeline Profiles.” This video is the first in its series and highlights some of the work that the Berea College Promise Neighborhood is doing to create a strong early childhood segment of their cradle-to-career pipeline.

To illustrate the impact of the Promise Neighborhoods program's cradle-to-career approach, the U.S. Department of Education and the Center for the Study of Social Policy, developed a series of videos titled “Pipeline Profiles.” This video is the second in its series and highlights the work that the East Lubbock Promise Neighborhood is doing to strengthen partnerships between schools, the school district, and a higher education institution, while building out the K-12 segment of their cradle-to-career pipeline.

• Seed money, including funds for planning and administration, is important for a successful launch. 
• To date, the majority of HFFI dollars have gone to support already established business owners. 
• Many healthy food projects are not equipped to take on debt. Grants or forgivable loans are needed in order to produce additional healthy food outlets, especially in areas that, from a business standpoint, would be considered unprofitable. 
• Flexible sources of capital are critical for maximum deployment of funds, and project requirements should not be overly restrictive. 
• HFFI-funded projects have helped to create jobs, expand healthy food retail, and eliminate food deserts. In some neighborhoods, these projects also spurred additional community revitalization. (4) 
• There are several cases of HFFI loan recipients partnering with other organizations, including community clinics, medical schools, and fitness facilities, to improve resident health. According to managers of HFFI funds, retail outlets need to be rooted in the community in order to be successful. To that end, business owners can play an important role in supporting population health improvement goals. 

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and Wilder Research conducted a mixed-methods study to provide information to those interested in improving Minnesota's food retail environment.

This webinar features best-practices and effective strategies Promise Neighborhoods are using to promote the age-appropriate functioning of young children in their communities. In doing so, this webinar aims to equip Promise Neighborhoods and other community leaders with the knowledge, tools, and resources to turn the curve on the baseline indicator for GPRA 2: the number and percentage of three year-olds and children entering kindergarten who demonstrate age-appropriate functioning. The following experts are featured on this webinar: 
-Michelle Palo, Project Services Director, Northside Achievement Zone 
-Andre Dukes, Family Academy Director, Northside Achievement Zone 
-Maureen Seiwert, NAZ Early Childhood Action Team Co-Leader, Executive Dir. of Early Childhood Education for Minneapolis Public Schools 
-Dianne Haulcy, NAZ Early Childhood Action Team Co-Leader, Office of Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges

On Tuesday, March 29 at 2 p.m.EST, the Promise Neighborhoods Institute at PolicyLink hosted a webinar that lifted up strategies to utilize federal tools to build youth and family financial capability in Promise Neighborhoods. We were joined by Anamita Gall (ICF International) and Dr. Deborah Moore (Indianola Promise Community), who shared best practices for using federal tools, such as the Assets for Independence Initiative, to: break the cycle of generational poverty, ensure that students live in stable communities, and integrate financial capability services into Promise Neighborhoods strategies to improve outcomes for all underserved children and their families.