The Twin Cities region faces a number of critical challenges as we consider our future. Our willingness and ability to proactively and effectively address issues such as affordable housing, quality health care, job creation, transportation, and education will determine whether the region remains one of the best places in the world to work and live.

In order to effectively address these issues, we must accept some unflattering and troubling truths about our region:

1) Despite our impressive historical overall performance, we have significant social and economic disparities on nearly every indicator. For example, while we have an average household income that is among the highest in the nation, our average black household income is among the lowest.

2) The populations that are struggling most with these disparities — nonwhite and poor residents — are growing rapidly as a percentage of our population. Therefore, without intervention we will trend downward on nearly every socio-economic indicator.

3) There are very few among us who are not exacerbating or reinforcing these disparities. These disparities are the product of decisions made every day by thousands and thousands of individuals and organizations around the region. Decisions such as whom to hire, where to live, and even with whom to have lunch can hurt or help.

Consequences will have statewide impact
Nearly three years ago, the Itasca Project commissioned a study from the Brookings Institution to help us understand the magnitude and implications of the disparities in the region. The findings in its "Mind the Gap" report were a call to action for us — as citizens and as employers.  These disparities not only offend our sensibilities about the community we want to live in, they have very real, adverse fiscal and economic consequences for our region – consequences that will impact all of Minnesota.

Perhaps the most clear and unsettling economic effect of these growing disparities will be on the quality of our future workforce. The children who are in the workforce pipeline today have a poverty rate more than twice as high as the baby boomers they will replace. Given all we know about the link between poverty and low educational attainment, this has enormous negative implications for our region's economic competitiveness.

These are issues of the heart and of the mind. 

Itasca Project participants, based on these findings, have committed to take on a number of initiatives to directly impact these disparities — for example, our strategic planning work with the Minneapolis Public Schools. In addition, we are committed to telling everyone we can about these issues and encouraging action. Our speaker's bureau has reached more than 12,000 residents in church, work and civic settings all around the region.

For many of you, these disparities are old news. The 2007 "Wilder Research Survey of Twin Cities Region Residents" found that 91 percent of residents of our region have at least heard of these disparities. However, only about half of residents believe they are a big problem. To us, this means that there is a still a significant need for education on this topic.

'Close the Gap' series to begin Sunday
For that reason, we have partnered with Twin Cities Public Television to develop a five-part documentary series that brings the facts to life with the stories of organizations and individuals who are facing these issues every day. The series will premiere on tpt Channel 2 Sunday at 6 p.m. with "Close the Gap: The Case for Change," a one-hour summary of the five episodes (which will air the following five Saturdays on Channel 17).

While the facts may be depressing, the series is not. Each episode focuses on ways people are making a positive difference. Our intention is to help inspire more such action.

We are not naïve enough to believe that small, individual gestures are all that is needed. The scope of the challenges facing our region will require actions both large and small, involving thoughtful public policy and creative private-sector initiative.

The Itasca Project is a non-partisan alliance and our participants span the political spectrum. While we may not always agree on the most appropriate mechanisms to help reduce disparities, we all agree that these growing disparities require immediate attention and effort from of all of us.

There are innumerable ways that you can help — from teaching a child to read to offering to carpool with a colleague with limited transportation options. For more ideas and information on these disparities, please visit Twin Cities Compass.

We hope that you will tune in this Sunday and throughout the series. We think you'll agree – and hope you'll help spread the word — that addressing our region's socioeconomic disparities is not just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do.