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RAPID and Northside Achievement Zone partnership

Community served

Northside Achievement Zone is a nonprofit, educational initiative dedicated to serving North Minneapolis, a community of 13 neighborhoods with a population of 67,000 residents that is home to the largest Black population and has the highest percentage of families with children in all of Minneapolis. North Minneapolis is also home to some of the largest educational, economic, and racial disparities in Minnesota.

In the community:

  • Four in five (81%) families identify as Black.
  • Two-thirds (75%) of families are single-parent households.
  • The majority (87%) of families live at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
  • Nearly nine in 10 families reported two or more areas of significant resource needs.

Priorities and goals

Since the pandemic, there have been worrisome drops in the developmental readiness of early childhood scholars and the academic achievement of Black 3rd-8th grade students. Northside Achievement Zone aims to end multigenerational poverty in North Minneapolis by building a culture of achievement where all low-income children of color have the well-being and support to graduate high school and succeed in college, career, and life. The organization’s cradle-to-career collaborative includes 35+ nonprofits and educational institutions, working together to strengthen educational and social services for Black children and families in North Minneapolis.

Engaging families

Northside Achievement Zone is a data-driven organization that is committed to using data to inform strategic direction and support family and scholar success. In 2024, they began collaborating with the RAPID Survey Project to listen to parents in the community, to improve the robustness of their data and evaluation work, and strengthen data culture with partners and families. 

Data and insights

Along with data from the early childhood action team (e.g., engagement metrics, developmental assessment data), lifting up local parent voices will help to more effectively understand families’ needs, successes, challenges, and experiences, and amplify parents’ voices in policy and advocacy discussions. Additionally, Northside Achievement Zone engages parents through meaning-making sessions, where they can discuss data, share their stories, shape strategies for achieving their goals, and build a trusting village.