A new episode of our podcast, Together, We're Better! is out. In this episode, BOF sits down with Kristin Kappelman and Kevin Meagher, both Data Managers for backbone partnerships. This episode will give you insight into the intentionality required to share data effectively with others. At Building Our Future, we strive to use data as a flashlight and not a weapon. Data isn't just numbers; it's any information gathered. It's powerful to help us understand what's changed over time and in other communities, and it can be used to support policy change, especially when the community shares their lived experiences to help bring the data to life.

​We invite you to challenge yourselves by using and viewing data from an asset-based lens. Listen here on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts! 

Kenosha Unified School District will receive $45 million in American Rescue Plan funding, via the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund to address the impact of the pandemic on our district's students.

In May, Building Our Future and Kenosha Unified School District partnered to hear from the Kenosha community on important priorities for use of COVID relief funds. Twenty-two community members joined sessions on May 11 and 17, 2022, to share their priorities for spending. They answered the question: How would you spend the funding to maximize learning and counteract the effects of COVID? The data in this report represents the views of the 22 community members who attended and cannot be assumed to represent the entire community. However, strong themes emerged across the two sessions. 

Key Themes:
When considering KUSD as a whole, the community overwhelmingly prioritized mental health supports for students. Additional areas of focus include staffing, out-of-school time, enrichment, and academic supports.

​See our report for how those community recommendations break down by student grade level. 

Key indicators show positives, concerns for Kenosha County economy, residents’ wellbeing

​Earlier this year, Kenosha Area Business Alliance - a key partner of Building Our Future - commissioned the Wisconsin Policy Forum (WPF) to research Kenosha County to increase understanding about our community's economic performance, how it stacks up with similar counties, and the extent to which its recent economic development successes have made an impact on our area.

WPF has released both a summary report and a more robust online interactive data tool that help gauge Kenosha County’s performance, and its residents’ wellbeing in several categories, including population and demographics; education, health, and safety; employment and financial stability; housing; economic activity; and property values and taxes. We invite you to learn more and dig in to the findings! 
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