The Collaborative Community Initiative (CCI) has grown out of the work of The Collaborative, a group of black businesses and allies who advocate to advance public policies that promote economic equity and inclusion, when it became clear that economic policy in New Orleans, a majority-minority city, was being designed and implemented without sufficient data on local minority businesses - both the quantitative data such as numbers, types, and locations and the qualitative data of lived experience.

 

Some of the policies The Collaborative successfully advocated for include:

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• Louisiana HB-224, now ACT-230, which authorizes a Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Business set-aside program in the City of New Orleans

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• Passage of ordinances and a home rule charter amendment that improved DBE participation

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• Working with the Office of Supplier Diversity to strengthen requirements for DBE compliance

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• Budget approval and implementation of a City of New Orleans disparity study