Data Justice Project aims to improve lives of Black Pittsburghers

Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood is vibrant — but it also has the lowest life expectancy rate in the city at less than 65 years old.

The statistics can stigmatize the neighborhood, according to data experts.

While there is currently no explanation for the disparity in Larimer, causes will be investigated in collaboration with the Larimer Consensus Group, the City of Pittsburgh and the Black Equity Coalition. It’s just one example of what Data Justice for Pittsburgh’s Black Neighborhoods, the recent partnership between Black Equity Coalition and the city, can accomplish.

The project is fully funded by the de Beaumont Foundation, which gave a $1.1 million, three-year grant to cover stipends, childcare and catering to those participating in community meetings.

“The goal of the Data Justice Project is to find ways to improve the health and lived experiences of minority communities, particularly Black Pittsburghers,” said Chris Belasco, senior manager of digital services and chief data officer for the City of Pittsburgh in the Department of Innovation and Performance.

Belasco said displacement occurs in some communities, and creating more opportunities that make it possible for residents of that community to stay.

“At the heart of this project is representation, which has become a huge issue as of late in terms of having real people’s voices represented in how the government makes decisions. We see this convening as a way to build in more community power over how the city uses data in every aspect of its service delivery,” said Bobbie Fan, MADE (Modern Anti-racist Data Ecosystems) for Health Data Justice project director and part of the Black Equity Coalition’s Data Justice Working Group.

The initiative will give the city the ability to understand how to improve these experiences in relation to residential segregation and disinvestment.

“We expect that our work will be better, more responsive to the needs of individuals and create opportunities for accountability,” Belasco said.

One of the tangible changes will be data, data tools and feedback made available to the public.

“The policies (Pittsburgh) City Council makes will then be more closely aligned with our residents,” Belasco said.

Tiffany Gary-Webb, professor in the Department of Epidemiology and associate dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, is also part of the Black Equity Coalition’s Data Justice Working Group.

The Black Equity Coalition has been active since the spring of 2020, said Gary-Webb. Initially, it focused on understanding how the pandemic was affecting Black populations in the area and creating equitable data solutions.

“Now our focus has shifted from covid to broader social determinants of health, thinking about neighborhoods, neighborhood change, population change and the built environment,” she said.

This includes housing, quality sidewalks and green spaces in neighborhoods and how they affect Black populations locally and across the state. The project also ensures that data collection will not further marginalize certain populations while addressing data privacy concerns.

“There is research suggesting that community collaboration has significant benefits,” Gary-Webb said. “Our workshops will teach people how to visualize data, understand data privacy and create plans moving forward.”

Mayor Ed Gainey often says that his vision for Pittsburgh is a safer, more welcoming city where residents can thrive and do more than just survive, a city where every resident can accomplish their goals. This aligns with the health goals of this grant and the past work of the Black Equity Coalition, Belasco said.

“This is our way of saying no more,” Gainey said in a statement. “As we seek to make decisions that impact our residents, we want to be sure that the data we collect is inclusive of everyone, and this initiative will ensure that.”

Darius Wallace, project coordinator in the mayor’s office, said, “By doing this work, we hope to create processes and systems so that our most marginalized communities have increased access to city government and their voices are amplified in the decision-making process.”

“The mayor has a big vision of making city government work for all, and through this partnership, it is one step in giving our most marginalized community members voices and seats at the table,” Wallace added.

The project began with recruiting members for the Community Data Justice Collaborative. The next phase will involve the city’s data governance committee working with the collaborative members to make decisions on data collection.

Belasco explained that with community involvement, discussions will be more solution-focused and geared toward addressing real problems. Many of the discussions will begin in the new year.

“It’s not like we are collecting data on permits or something like that. We’re building a process to have conversations about aspects that really affect the community and to make it more inclusive,” he said.

Much of the data the city collects is made public through the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center.

“When we work on building things to share with the public, we also build in feedback to ensure inclusivity in charts, maps and city data,” Belasco said. “Acknowledging that in the past this had not been our approach, we know our limits, and this created the opportunity to do better.”

Wallace emphasized that the workshops will help community members learn how to work with technology, collect, interpret and discuss data. “We want to ensure that adults, youth and any community members have access to this training,” he said.

“We especially want to make sure that Black women, men and youth are brought into the fold,” Wallace said. The information can be used to engage in more advocacy efforts or create businesses, mobile markets and activism.