Setting Meaningful Benchmarks

What we have discovered in our journey at Roca is that if you want to develop interventions that work, having very clear data about the population you are aiming to serve and the geographic area you are hoping to serve is really key to be able to demonstrate and prove meaningful outcomes. And while having benchmarks to compare against is critical, they are often hard to come by. It is often really challenging to understand what those benchmarks are if you don't have good visuals. The Opportunity Atlas empowers organizations to be more data driven, to do a better job of setting meaningful benchmarks, and to make more informed decisions about where they might want to work or partner with others in their work.

Roca's mission is to disrupt the cycle of incarceration and poverty by helping young people transform their lives. The organization works with young men at high risk of incarceration who have previously been unwilling to participate in intervention programs. Based in Chelsea, Mass. since 1988, the non-profit has five locations across the state and recently opened a Baltimore office.