We live in an increasingly complex and intersectional world. The problems we face today – the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, the disparities in community wealth, achieving equity in a diverse culture, the lack of housing affordability – require a massive collective effort to address and extend far beyond the reach of any single agency, municipality, or department.
Such challenges require us to listen; to think beyond our existing structures; and to reach across boundaries. And they require new collaborations to catalyze transformational changes and to bring resources to the region.
We are grateful to our founding partners, San Diego Foundation, County of San Diego, and the world’s leading think tank, The Brookings Institution, for their support and commitment to the region. Together, we identify national best practices, advance federal and state funding opportunities, provide intellectual capital, build enduring partnerships, deploy applied research, and assist in attaining transformative impact.
Thank you for your support and partnership. We invite you to review this inaugural annual report to learn more about the San Diego Regional Policy & Innovation Center and celebrate our first year together.
With gratitude,
The San Diego Regional Policy & Innovation Center envisions a future where strong alliances have brought about a thriving and equitable region.
Our mission is to unlock the region’s potential by cultivating
and building partnerships.
Our niche is to address intractable issues that can only be solved with cross-sector,
multi-jurisdictional collaborations.
PEOPLE working together
Forging strong alliances that will stand the test of time.
RESEARCH for the common good
Applying equity-focused research to ourregion’s most pressing challenges.
RESOURCES for the region
Adding and activating capital to strengthen the region.
IDEAS brought to life
Using research and resources to develop creative, effective, and equitable solutions.
Taking action to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Increasing quality and quantity of housing stock to improve access and affordability.
Building power and prosperity for historically disinvested communities.
Increasing and leveraging infrastructure investments for the public good.
Our partnership with The Brookings Institution helps our region understand national trends, and in turn, these insights influence local and national policy conversations.
In September, Brookings Metro will release a first-of-its-kind report highlighting the shortfalls in current decarbonization planning across 50 different cities nationally, to identify steps toward building greater technical, financial, and programmatic capacity—and ultimately toward supporting emissions reductions across the country. In addition to conducting interviews with San Diego and other national leaders, our Brookings colleagues—with support by the Policy & Innovation Center—led an analysis to score the level of detail in these city plans across 25 individual criteria, including overarching plan goals, sector strategies, ownership, funding/finance, and equity. The Policy & Innovation Center team will use this analysis to inform regional recommendations to improve decarbonization and implementation plans.
Our partnership with The Brookings Institution helps our region understand national trends, and in turn, these insights influence local and national policy conversations.
In September, Brookings Metro will release a first-of-its-kind report highlighting the shortfalls in current decarbonization planning across 50 different cities nationally, to identify steps toward building greater technical, financial, and programmatic capacity—and ultimately toward supporting emissions reductions across the country. In addition to conducting interviews with San Diego and other national leaders, our Brookings colleagues—with support by the Policy & Innovation Center—led an analysis to score the level of detail in these city plans across 25 individual criteria, including overarching plan goals, sector strategies, ownership, funding/finance, and equity. The Policy & Innovation Center team will use this analysis to inform regional recommendations to improve decarbonization and implementation plans.
In close collaboration with the County of San Diego Land Use and Environmental Group, to leverage $4.5M in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, Policy & Innovation researchers are gathering data and working on combined solutions to stormwater infrastructure and broadband capacity expansions, wildfire data collection and monitoring, new entry points for retrofitting aging, multi-family buildings with climate-smart water, and energy efficiency upgrades. And, we have taken significant steps towards creating an infrastructure launchpad to attract world-class companies to the region.
In our first year, we established a robust Government and Agency Council comprised of the County, 18 municipalities, and core agencies, delivering three workshops and several small group meetings on national funding opportunities, housing elements, policy conversations, and innovative financing models. The willingness of local government and agency leaders to work collaboratively on major issues is unprecedented nationally.
In our first year, we established a robust Government and Agency Council comprised of the County, 18 municipalities, and core agencies, delivering three workshops and several small group meetings on national funding opportunities, housing elements, policy conversations, and innovative financing models. The willingness of local government and agency leaders to work collaboratively on major issues is unprecedented nationally.
To compete for the various state and federal funding opportunities, our region must align on cross-sector, equitable, and collaborative solutions to the challenges ahead. At the Policy & Innovation Center, we work to ensure that we are best positioned to apply for, receive, and implement these funds.
A recent example is the Southern Border CERF Collaboration. In July 2022, we filed the region’s application in collaboration with over 70 entities to California’s Community Economic Resilience Fund (CERF), a $5 million dollar planning grant that could lead to a $50 million dollar funding opportunity to support economic recovery in Imperial and San Diego counties. If successful, the Policy & Innovation Center will serve as the fiscal agent providing state and federal compliance expertise to partner organizations.
While we await the State’s decision on our region’s application, we thank the communities, entities, and people who shared their visions for our region’s future, drafted governance documents, and contributed to the proposal work. We are excited by the impact these partnerships will yield for years to come.
