West Lakes
Neighborhood Opportunity Initiative
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
- Charrettes & Community Conversations
- Recruiting, hiring, and training Community Ambassadors
- Propel Leadership Course
Rich Data Services
- Community Asset Mapping
- Community Survey Annually (2013-Present)
- Evaluation of Collective Impact Initiative
- Neighborhood Measures Dashboard
Champions
- Lift Orlando
- Florida Citrus Sports
- West Lakes Partnership
- AdventHealth; Orlando Health; Community Health Centers
- City of Orlando
- Purpose Built Communities

Other Initiatives

Eatonville
Economic Impact There was a 2.16x rate of return for every dollar spent on Polis Institute’s work in Eatonville.

East Winter Garden
Economic Impact: Polis Institute had a 1.9x rate of return for every dollar spent on our East Winter Garden work.

Parramore
Economic Impact: Polis Institute’s phase one of work in Parramore had a 1.9x rate of economic return.