NEWS & OPINIONS
Improve Your Life with a Growth Mindset
Learning keeps you growing Most people agree that learning is important. I’m just not sure we understand how important it really is. I can still remember as a child believing that I needed to know everything or people wouldn’t think I was smart and capable. I hear...
A renewed reason to celebrate this Fourth of July
This year we celebrated our country and one of its biggest values...family. For many the Fourth of July is more than just a celebration of our country’s birth—it is an opportunity to gather with family. An opportunity to connect and celebrate together. It feels like...
GCO Testifies Before U.S. House On Benefits Cliffs
Examining the SNAP Benefit Cliff On July 12, 2021, Eric Randolph, GCO’s Director of Research, testified before the U.S. House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations about how welfare programs often hurt the very people they are...
Promote Purchasing Power—Not the Minimum Wage
How to help working families the most During a focus group session on working class families we recently conducted at the Georgia Center for Opportunity, Jazmine* made an observation more perceptive than most experts. Our focus group consisted of working-class...
Gov’t. check can’t beat work’s dignity | AJC
Jobs provide dignity and purpose to people’s lives and contribute to community flourishing in ways that can’t be measured by monthly employment reports.
Help From Where You Least Expect It
“I don’t know what I’m going to do if I don’t find a better job; I might have to go back [to prison].” Two months out of prison, Ray (name changed for anonymity) was explaining to me that he had reached the end of his rope. He had been struggling to find work that...
Origins of the Georgia Center for Opportunity: Why we choose to focus on work
You’ve probably heard that if you give a man a fish, he’ll eat for a day—but if you teach him to fish, he’ll eat for a lifetime. And while the Georgia Center for Opportunity’s (GCO) mission to alleviate poverty by removing barriers to human flourishing is grounded in...
BETTER WORK adds direct-to-business job applications
Working to more quickly connect our communities to work. In efforts to better address the needs of the unemployed in our communities, we have taken an evolving learning approach to how we support those in need. Not only are we looking to learn from those in need, but...
Connecting the Presence of an Honored Father
Kenneth Braswell of Father’s Incorporated was recently honored on OWN’s Spotlight Celebrating Black Fatherhood. It brought back a positive memory of the dad event (The Dad Factor: Presence) hosted by the Georgia Center for Opportunity, where fathers and father’s to be...
Putting Georgia’s employment numbers in perspective
Is there any reason not to cheer? Georgia’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 percent in May. Here are three reasons why this looks good for Georgia. First, the unemployment rate is declining, giving optimism that the economy is bouncing back from the pandemic....
Still celebrating my father!
A celebration of fathers. Since Father’s Day is upon us, I am sure many of you are thinking about the presence or lack thereof your father in your life. Hopefully some of you are thinking about the father that you are or want to become. No matter where you land, take...
5 Ways to Impress an Employer (Soup to Nuts)
5 Ways to Impress an Employer (Soup to Nuts) Let’s pretend you’re getting ready for an interview. You’re probably wondering what you should wear and whether you should prepare to shake hands or fist bump in the post-COVID world. You may even be practicing eye contact...
MEDIA MENTIONS
Georgia education officials cite education loss as a top priority for 2023
Georgia education officials say they plan to address lost learning opportunities stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. But a leading Georgia nonprofit says state lawmakers should pass legislation to give parents more educational choices, saying the pandemic...
Why Our Justice System Is Making More Criminals Than Preventing & Ways to Reform w/ Joshua Crawford
On this Heard Tell Good Talks our guest is Joshua Crawford, Director of Criminal Justice Initiatives at the Georgia Center for Opportunity talk about how our criminal justice system is making more criminals than it is preventing.
Report: Charter school enrollment increases in Georgia
More Georgia students are attending charter schools, while enrollment at public schools is declining, according to a new report. New figures from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools show that Georgia experienced a roughly 4.9% increase in charter...
New national study shows America’s gun epidemic is more deadly than ever
A new national study commissioned by the Journal of American Medical Association shows America’s gun violence epidemic is more deadly than ever. The study analyzes data from 1990-2021 and provides context into the gender and racial disparities of gun violence in that...
New national study shows America’s gun epidemic is more deadly than ever
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - A new national study commissioned by the Journal of American Medical Association shows America’s gun violence epidemic is more deadly than ever. The study analyzes data from 1990-2021 and provides context into the gender and racial disparities...
Report gives Georgia high marks for economic freedom
“This is another report that reinforces Georgia’s place in the country as a freedom leader, especially during the pandemic and now in post-pandemic life,” Erik Randolph, director of research for the Georgia Center for Opportunity, said in a release.
Report gives Georgia high marks for economic freedom
“This is another report that reinforces Georgia’s place in the country as a freedom leader, especially during the pandemic and now in post-pandemic life,” Erik Randolph, director of research for the Georgia Center for Opportunity, said in a release.
How to turn back the tide of violent crime
And the people bearing the brunt of those policy choices come from our most vulnerable communities where violent crime not only cuts lives short but significantly reduces economic mobility.
