Rauch Foundation & Newsday Media Group Announce New Research Entity at Newsday
The Rauch Foundation and Newsday announced the launch of nextLI, a digital community and toolbox that will succeed the Long Island Index.
nextLI is taking over the job of gathering and presenting regional data of importance to Long Island, which has been performed by the Long Island Index for the past 15 years. The Long Island Index’s website (www.longislandindex.org) will continue to make available the data that it has previously compiled and presented to the public. nextLI will carry on the tradition of producing and publishing high-caliber research and information that is essential to understanding Long Island’s regional challenges, while creating an innovative digital platform for civic engagement.
Fifteen years ago, after consultation with Long Island business, political, and civic leaders, the Rauch Foundation created the Long Island Index, a regional index to inspire and advance regional thinking. The Index’s role has been to measure conditions on Long Island and show trends over time, compare Long Island’s situation with those in similar regions, increase awareness of issues and their interrelatedness, and inspire Long Islanders to work together to achieve shared goals. It was a bold – now proven – experiment by the Foundation, which had always intended, once the experiment was completed, to pass the responsibility to another Long Island institution.
nextLI will provide to the public, free of charge, high-quality, independent research and analysis to help Long Island’s leaders and residents address the region’s many challenges. The project’s website will host a digital forum for Long Islanders to discuss their ideas, with the goal of reaching informed consensus on the best path forward. nextLIwill be managed by Newsday’s opinion department and will begin work immediately. nextLIwill benefit from the input of an advisory board made up by members of the Long Island community….