West Lakes

Neighborhood Opportunity Initiative

West Lakes Neighborhoods, Orlando Florida

Economic Impact: Every dollar spent on Polis Institute’s work in West Lakes had a 1.7x rate of economic return.

How do you create vibrant opportunities for under-resourced communities amidst prosperity initiatives for the broader City? In Orlando, Florida, as a new stadium was being built, business leaders asked this very question. The result was Lift Orlando. A designated Purpose Built Community, Lift Orlando creates change by empowering community members and business leaders to work collectively to the greatest impact. In the interactive dashboard below, you can see how strategic steps have already created results. The dashboard also gives an overview of community-level demographics. Lift Orlando works with West Lakes Partnership and a host of business, nonprofit, and civic partners to generate sustainable social justice and racial equity in the Communities of West Lakes. Polis Institute has provided action research and community engagement strategy work to the initiative since 2013. Polis has delivered a range of critical services to the West Lakes Collective Impact Initiative and its Community Quarterback, Lift Orlando. These are:

People First Engagement