Release: Accelerator for America Announces COVID-19 Relief Toolkit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Yusef Robb
Yusef@acceleratorforamerica.org
(323) 384-1789

ACCELERATOR FOR AMERICA: COVID-19 RELIEF TOOLKIT

APRIL 23, 2020 — Accelerator for America today encouraged city leaders from across the country to harness its COVID-19 Relief Toolkit, which highlights specific models, policy recommendations and the actions of mayors across the country in support of families, tenants, small businesses and more during the pandemic. The toolkit was created with insight from Accelerator partner Bruce Katz and his team at Drexel’s Nowak Metro Finance Lab, The Governance Project, and the local leaders across the country. The toolkit is a living online resource that will continue to be updated.

"Through this exchange of models and best practices, cities can better and faster create initiatives to help their residents in need," said Accelerator Co-Founder and CEO Rick Jacobs. "Accelerator for America exists to scale and replicate successful local models, and this pandemic has led to incredible examples of local leadership."

Accelerator for America finds and develops solutions to economic insecurity and shares them with cities to create national change from the ground up. It was co-founded by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Rick Jacobs in 2017 around the idea that, while Washington is broken and has, in fact, been broken for some time, change is still needed and can be made at the local level. The Accelerator has since developed community wealth-building tools that are being used by more than 60 cities nationwide, and it has helped local communities generate $22 billion in funding for transit and transportation infrastructure and good paying jobs through local ballot initiatives.

The Accelerator immediately pivoted its work last month to help cities solve challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. In partnership with the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles and Mastercard’s City Possible network, it planned and is now executing the Angeleno Card initiative, which is in the process of delivering direct financial assistance to approximately 45,000 Angelenos. The Angeleno Card model is now being shared with cities and organizations across the country. See this article from Smart Cities Dive for more information, or our release on the initiative here.

The Angeleno Card model is one of many resources available via the COVID-19 Relief Toolkit.

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Accelerator for America finds and develops solutions to economic insecurity and shares them with cities to create national change from the ground up. acceleratorforamerica.org