The Equitable Development Principles & Scorecard is a tool to answer the question: “How can development repair past harms and contribute to a stronger, more inclusive and thriving community?”
The social, physical, and historic landscape both defines and reflects the dominant powers in our communities. From the theft of Indigenous lands to the exclusion of communities of color from property ownership, generations of intentional policies and practices have stripped power and decision-making around development from low-wealth, immigrant and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Now, Minnesota leads the nation in health and wealth disparities and feelings of exclusion among BIPOC residents.
This tool provides a framework to reclaim power and ensure that development is not an isolated project but rather becomes an integral piece of a collective commitment to create wealth, opportunity and stability for historically and systemically marginalized communities.
The Alliance partnered with the Harrison Neighborhood Association, Umoja Community Development Corporation, and members of the Community Engagement Steering Committee to create the 2016 Equitable Development Principles & Scorecard, which helps communities ensure that the principles and practices of equitable development, environmental justice, and affordability are available to all residents. In 2020-2021, the Alliance worked with community partners to update the Scorecard and add a new Livability Principle to the evolving tool.
Alliance staff convenes interested stakeholders and engaged leaders on a regular basis to come together and share their successes and learnings with the Scorecard. To be added to the group, please contact joohee@thealliancetc.org.
Organizations and entities across the region are now adapting and using this tool to build power and accountability in their communities. Read and watch the case studies below that share the many ways the scorecard is being leveraged and the lessons learned from the communities putting it to use!
Water resources have strategic importance in achieving economic growth, competitiveness, and high quality of life — and collaborative partnerships can improve community health and resiliency. But, as Kimberly Carpenter discovered in her role as Community Engagement Coordinator for Metro Blooms, those resources and partnerships rarely center equity. “Actualizing equity with diverse watershed stakeholders is really important because there’s significant money for stormwater management but I wasn’t seeing people of color and indigenous people in spaces where conversations about distributing those funds were happening,” she said. 
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