Social Capital

Violence impacts all of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, but the toll doesn’t fall equally across members of our community. There are pronounced disparities along racial lines. A new, data-focused learning community will help local leaders across sectors find collaborative solutions to prevent and address violence in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Housed at the University of Pennsylvania, Actionable Intelligence […]

This article was written by the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute. Data used in this series was collected in partnership with Leading on Opportunity, Opportunity Insights, Communities in Schools, YMCA of Greater Charlotte, Foundation For The Carolinas, and SHARE Charlotte, with staff funding from The Gambrell Foundation. See more results from the 2019 Mecklenburg Social Capital […]

Can philanthropy foster greater regional connection? Yes, according to our research for the Carolinas Urban-Rural Connection project. But it’s not just the movement of money that matters, say local leaders: it’s the regional exchange of ideas about how to put that money to work that seems to make a difference. Community foundations, by definition, have […]

Charitable giving is an invisible thread binding people and communities together across the 32-county Carolinas Urban-Rural Connection study region — but how much people give, and what resources are available, varies from place to place. The Carolinas Urban-Rural Connection A special project from the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute Read about the project here Introduction: Strengthening […]

Are youth who are disengaged from school more likely to enter the juvenile justice system – and does this vary for youth of different races and ethnicities? That was the question UNC Charlotte professor Dr. Susan McCarter set out to answer. Using data from the Institute for Social Capital, an integrated data system that’s part […]

Data often lives in silos. At the Institue for Social Capital, part of the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, researchers can find the links those silos might otherwise hide. The institute was profiled this week by EducationNC, as part of a series on data in education. The wide range of data available at the institute – […]

The first recipient of a faculty research grant from the Institute for Social Capital, Inc. (ISC) will be Dr. Mason Haber, assistant professor in the UNC Charlotte Department of Psychology. The ISC this fall announced the creation of its first ISC Faculty Research Grant. The purpose of the grant is to provide funding to UNC […]

It’s easy to gush about the things we love. Kids, pets, restaurants, sports – no problems there, we understand each other pretty well. (Q: What is “You can’t handle the truth!” A: Best movie line EVER! See what I mean?) But what about our love for all things urban? Maybe it’s time to sort a […]

Amy Hawn Nelson, a Mecklenburg County educator with a strong record in improving the academic outcomes for at-risk students, has been named director of UNC Charlotte’s Institute for Social Capital. She replaces Sharon Portwood, the first director, who stepped down in December 2011 to return to full-time teaching at the university. The Institute for Social […]

Two of UNC Charlotte’s most visible institutes are merging to create a combined center with unparalleled research capacity to address social issues in the Charlotte region. On March 8, the Institute for Social Capital (ISC) board of directors and UNC Charlotte agreed to merge the ISC staff and operations into the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, […]