Last Wednesday, the MassINC office was buzzing with energy on the heels of our first in-person event of the year.
Nearly 20 Gateway City leaders joined us in our conference room over two days to explore school-centered neighborhood development strategies featuring a special guest from Atlanta, Carol Naughton, CEO of Purpose Built Communities. Down the hall, CommonWealth Beacon welcomed readers to its third “Meet the Editor” virtual event with Laura Colarusso. Meanwhile, The MassINC Polling Group added to the excitement with a quiz show at the top of their latest Horse Race episode.
Today, we’re thrilled to bring you the first MassINC Matters newsletter of 2025, sharing the latest updates from across our organization.
NEW TOOL
Gateway City Housing Profiles
The Gateway City Housing Profiles tool offers city-level data on individual Gateway Cities, comparing them to their suburbs in some cases. The analysis covers housing affordability, production trends, and the availability of affordable units, highlighting differences between Gateway Cities and Greater Boston. The tool also examines key drivers of housing production, neighborhood revitalization, and equitable access to homeownership, focusing on how economic growth affects different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. By exploring these dynamics, the tool provides Gateway City leaders with insights to promote equitable, sustainable neighborhood development while minimizing displacement.
EVENT RECAP
School Centered Neighborhood Development: From Theory to Action
On Wednesday, February 12, the Policy Center partnered with Urban Edge to host a dynamic conversation building on the success of the recently released School Centered Neighborhood Development Playbook. Leaders from education, housing, and community development came together to explore strategies for creating vibrant urban neighborhoods with schools at the center.
The event featured insights from Carol Naughton, CEO of Purpose Built Communities who has helmed school centered neighborhood development efforts across the country. Later, Carol joined Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, Kristin McSwain, and Rob Watson for a panel discussion on how Massachusetts cities can plan for vibrant urban neighborhoods by applying this model with schools at the center. Stay tuned for a full recap on our event page.
ICYMI: MassINC CEO, Joe Kriesberg, wrote an op-ed for the Boston Globe exploring the potential for school-centered neighborhood approach to community development in his hometown of Syracuse, New York.
CommonWealth Beacon Finalists for Seven Journalism Award
CommonWealth Beacon has been recognized as a finalist in seven categories in the New England Newspaper and Press Association’s (NENPA) Better News Competition.
NENPA, the professional trade organization representing over 450 newspapers across Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island, has honored our newsroom for its excellence in journalism over the past year. We are top three finalists in the following categories:
- Best Website
- Best Podcast: Pulling the thread on North Shore racial covenants
- Crime and Courts Reporting: The last of Somerville’s old guard
- Local Election Coverage: In Revere, Latino victory reflects a changing city
- Investigative/Enterprise Reporting: Why did MassDOT hang T employees out to dry?
- Racial, Ethnic, or Gender Issue Coverage: Social equity marijuana businesses sold ‘bag of dreams’
- Arts & Entertainment Reporting: Not easy turning artists into a political force on Beacon Hill
Winners will be announced at the Better Newspaper Competition Awards Banquet on Saturday, March 29.
Help Power Our April Climate Coverage — Sponsorships Available
This April, our editorial team is launching a month-long climate coverage initiative focused on Massachusetts’ progress toward its climate goals. The project will explore federal policy shifts, clean energy development challenges, and equity issues impacting low-income communities. Readers can expect a dedicated landing page, a live taping of the Codcast, 8 to 12 original news stories on climate action, and 6 to 8 opinion pieces from key stakeholders, including government, business, and environmental leaders.
We’re seeking corporate and institutional partners to sponsor this special coverage and align with our statewide newsroom. Sponsorship opportunities are available—email us to learn more!
Our First NewsMatch Campaign: A Remarkable Success
Thanks to the generous support of 232 individual donors, we raised a little over $78,000 during our first-ever NewsMatch fundraising campaign—exceeding our goal by 56 percent. Participating in the Institute for Nonprofit News’ signature program gave a significant boost to our annual year-end fundraiser, including bonus funding from the MacArthur Foundation and the Barr Foundation for meeting specific goals.
Latest Codcast Episode
The case for banning smart phones in schools | Listen
CommonWealth Beacon editor Laura Colarusso sits down with state Senator John Velis to discuss the growing issue of smart phone addiction among youth, its impact on mental health, and a new bill aimed at addressing these concerns.
Top Articles
Get original reporting and insightful commentary on Massachusetts politics, ideas, and civic life in your inbox with CommonWealth Beacon‘s digital newsletters.
EVENT RECAP
The Power of Numbers: Parent Perspectives + Policy Solutions
The MassINC Polling Group (MPG) kicked off the year with a new poll and event with their longtime client, The Education Trust of Massachusetts. MPG has been polling K-12 parents in the commonwealth with Ed Trust since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. This time the topic was math and numeracy. The poll was covered in a recent article by The Boston Globe. The full results and slides from the poll release event are available on the MPG website.
Latest Horse Race Episode
Episode 338: Deep Cuts | Listen
Steve Koczela is joined by State House News Service reporter Chris Lisinksi to unpack the recent federal funding cuts to medical research, and subsequent lawsuit filed by attorneys general against the Trump administration.
The MassINC Polling Group is actively seeking new business opportunities. If you’re thinking about public opinion research, from adding a single question to a statewide poll to a fully custom program of surveys and focus groups, they can help. Working with MPG is a great way to support MassINC’s mission.
Staff and Board Member Updates
Welcome Ayanna Polk – MassINC’s Director of Communications
MassINC is excited to welcome Ayanna Polk as our new director of communications, who joined us last December. She will lead MassINC’s communications strategy, amplifying our research, policy initiatives, and civic engagement efforts throughout Massachusetts. You can learn more about Ayanna and her background on our website.
A Bittersweet Goodbye: Thank You, Claire Wigglesworth
On a bittersweet note, MPG is saying farewell to their Horse Race podcast producer and research associate, Claire Wigglesworth, who is moving on to a new opportunity. Claire was asked to pick her favorite Horse Race episode from the past couple months, and she chose “Track to Density,” in which MPG interviews Luc Schuster of the Boston Foundation and Jarred Johnson of Transit Matters about their new report on building more housing around the region’s commuter rail stations.
Board Member Spotlight: Joe Kennedy III
Our newest board member, Joe Kennedy III, was recently profiled in Boston Magazine, where he reflects on his Senate race, his work in economic development, and the state of the Democratic party.