Research shows American youth are facing a growing “opportunity gap” where the division of economic classes is widening and children born into poor families struggle to reach their full potential.
The University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy has been working with community foundations like ours across the country to understand regional data and trends. We commissioned a report on southwest Minnesota youth poverty and opportunity.
View the summary, key findings and 
download the complete report:
A Profile of Youth Poverty and Opportunity in Southwestern Minnesota
The report is authored by Marybeth J. Mattingly, Andrew Schaefer and Douglas Gagnon. Dr. Mattingly is director of research on vulnerable families at the Carsey School of Public Policy and a research assistant professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire. She presented at the Grow Our Own Summit December 15 in Marshall, which launched Southwest Initiative Foundation’s new focus on supporting all southwest Minnesota kids.
We will use this report to guide community conversations about the opportunity gap and local strategies to close it. We hope our partners find it’s a valuable tool as well.
Open invitation for community presentations
Want to share this work and research with your community? Southwest Initiative Foundation staff are ready and excited to visit with civic groups, schools, employers, city or county officials, faith communities, diverse communities and more.
Contact Nancy Kaping at [email protected] or 800-594-9480 to request a presentation.
Read the news release for this report.
Visit our resource page for more information about our Grow Our Own work.
