The Delta region of Arkansas and Mississippi holds enormous potential, but has experienced generations of underinvestment and systemic barriers to opportunity. Through 2030, the Walton Family Foundation's Home Region Program will invest in initiatives that ensure all students have access to a high-quality education, help residents build assets and economic mobility and strengthen the capacity of local leaders and community-driven solutions.
Our Theory of Change for Northwest Arkansas allows us to be bold in the challenges we take on together. It also helps us be nimble in how we approach solutions.
The Community Compass is a new measurement tool created to help communities better understand how public spaces and programs support connection, belonging and trust. Developed by the Walton Family Foundation and Trust for Public Land, this free tool helps communities better how people experience those spaces and one another.
A strong entrepreneurial ecosystem is essential to regional prosperity—fueling job growth, expanding opportunity and fostering long-term economic health. A new report explores how the region’s business environment has changed over time and how it compares to peer metropolitan areas, the state of Arkansas and the nation.
Organization mergers represent a complex process requiring careful planning, assessment and execution. Foundations and philanthropic entities play a vital role in supporting nonprofits through this process, providing financial, strategic and capacity-building assistance. New research documents lessons learned from local mergers, scanning existing philanthropic, legal and nonprofit resources for merger guidance, and synthesizing these insights into a set of actionable recommendations.
Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation surveyed over 500 Arkansas Gen Zers. Arkansas Gen Zers are thriving at a level slightly below the national average for Gen Z, but they are more likely to say they know their core values and are engaged in several key areas of their education.
The Walton Family Foundation recently conducted the fourth iteration of the Quality of Life Survey in Northwest Arkansas. This survey, now in its fourth iteration, tracks progress in several areas supported by the foundation. In this survey, we asked our neighbors a simple question, “How’s it going?”
High-quality career and technical education (CTE) programs lead to regional advancement and economic mobility when they align with regional economic needs and provide K-12 students the knowledge, skills and credentials they need for postsecondary success.
