Community-Driven Solutions to Economic Recovery | FUSE

About Us
About Us
FUSE is a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing the capacity of local governments to engage communities, advance racial equity, and work more effectively for everyone.
About us Overview
Our Model
The FUSE Model centers around a one-year full-time public service role in city or county government and includes three primary phases from start to finish.
Our Fellows & Alumni
FUSE Executive Fellows and Alumni are experienced leaders committed to advancing equity through action-oriented partnerships with government agencies.
FUSE Careers
FUSE is a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing the capacity of local governments to engage communities, advance racial equity, and work more effectively for everyone.
Our Team
The FUSE team and board of directors are committed to driving equitable change locally and nationally.
Work with FUSE
Work with FUSE
The power of government. The experience of community. The impact of new ideas. Together we can build better systems
Work with FUSE Overview
Partner With FUSE
The FUSE Model centers around a one-year full-time public service role in city or county government and includes three primary phases from start to finish.
Executive Fellowship Program
FUSE Executive Fellows and Alumni are experienced leaders committed to advancing equity through action-oriented partnerships with government agencies.
Funders And Supporters
Thanks to the generous support and close partnerships of our funders and supporters, we have been able to deepen our impact on issues that matter the most to communities and the government agencies that serve them.
Newsroom
Read more about our work, partner success, and updates.
Our Projects
Our Projects
Through strategic collaboration, these initiatives harness innovative solutions and practices to bridge gaps in healthcare access.
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Health
Expanding access to affordable health care and mental health resources to improve key indicators of community health.
Justice
Enhancing public safety and reform of criminal justice by changing policing, 911 dispatching, bail, sentencing, probation, reentry.
Education
Improving options for childcare, early education, STEM, out-of-school-time, and post-secondary enrollment and affordability.
Climate
Building new infrastructure, disaster resilience, renewable energy, green economy jobs, and plans to reduce emissions.
Housing
Addressing issues of homelessness, housing insecurity, gentrification, and the need to preserve and build more affordable housing.
Jobs
Increasing the number of living-wage jobs and preparing for the future of work through expanded job training.
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To respond to the growing impact of Covid-19, the city and county of Durham launched a Recovery and Renewal Task Force in May 2020. The task force has prioritized its work using a three-phased approach to the pandemic and its longer-term consequences, addressing public health, economic, and mental and behavioral health crises. While these phases are interconnected and unfolding simultaneously, the task force has focused most of its efforts during the past six months on the immediate public health crisis and strategies to mitigate the spread of the virus. Over the next several months, the task force plans to dedicate more attention and resources to strategies and initiatives that can advance an equitable economic recovery for businesses and workers. However, the task force is currently set to end in May 2021.

To prevent a gap in this critical work, the city of Durham will partner with FUSE Executive Fellow Leila Pedersen for one-year to develop a plan for moving recommendations forward beyond the term of the task force. The Executive Fellow will implement new initiatives centered on talent development and back-to-work programs, small business resiliency, small business promotion, and support for workers in low-wage industries.

LEILA PEDERSEN has spent the last decade advocating for better climate, democracy, and economic policies and practices. Most recently, she published original research and provided technical assistance to state policymakers and community partners of the North Carolina Justice Center. Previously, Leila launched and managed programs to help amplify the impact of social entrepreneurs at New America and led statewide campaigns that led to the passage of landmark legislation at Common Cause. Leila earned her MPA from the London School of Economics and Political Science and her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. She remains an active alumnus of the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network and New Leaders Council.

2021-2022 | City of Durham - Office of Performance & Innovation

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