In-Person Workshop: Levers of Economic Mobility Index (LEMI) and What It Means for Our Community

Austin Equity and Inclusion is hosting an in-person workshop on the Levers of Economic Mobility Index (LEMI) on Thursday, July 23, at the Permitting and Development Center (PDC). It runs from 6 PM to 8 PM in Room 1405, 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Dr., Austin, TX 78752.

If you've never heard of LEMI, it's Austin's people-focused, place-based mapping tool. It's built from 2020 Census data using methods from the OECD Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicators, and it combines 18 different levers across health, livelihood, and access domains. The whole point is to give a census-tract-level view of structural conditions rather than individual outcomes—the kind of data that's meant to inform policy, capital investment, and community-engaged planning. It's not about how one person is doing, but about the structural barriers that shape an entire neighborhood.

This isn't a new project, either. For more than a decade, eight Quality of Life Studies have helped the city and its partners understand how thousands of residents experience the issues that shape economic mobility. The workshop is run by Austin Equity and Inclusion with partners at Resilient Cities Catalyst, and it's aimed at community members who are new to data tools or just curious about how addressing structural barriers can advance mobility in their own neighborhoods. You'll get to explore the tool and see what the data actually says about Austin's neighborhoods.

If you can't make it in person, there's a virtual follow-up: a webinar called LEMI 101 is scheduled for Wednesday, July 29, from 10 AM to 11:30 AM on Zoom, led by Austin Equity and Inclusion with data scientists from Every Texan. The in-person session is Thursday, July 23, 6 PM to 8 PM at the PDC, Room 1405.