BF Fund Inc.
Disrupting System, Creating Opportunity
Understanding the Data & Methodology
These data points are developed using Social Explorer to map geographic areas and identify trends within the community. This platform allows us to access reliable datasets—such as the U.S. Census and American Community Survey,and translate them into clear, location-based insights. We then use Tableau to visualize and analyze the data, making it more accessible, interactive, and easier to interpret.
For this analysis, DeKalb County is divided into three regions to better understand geographic differences: North (above I-85), Central (between I-85 and Memorial Drive), and South (below Memorial Drive). This regional approach allows us to move beyond county-wide averages and instead highlight how conditions vary across different parts of the county.
Within each region, we examine key indicators including income levels, demographic composition, housing values, educational attainment, employment, and business activity. By comparing these data points, we are able to identify patterns, trends, and commonalities that help explain how opportunity is distributed and where disparities may exist.
This methodology is designed not just for analysis, but for action. By breaking down complex data into understandable and localized insights, we create a foundation for more informed decision-making. It also allows community members, organizations, and stakeholders to better understand their environment, ask more targeted questions, and advocate for resources and investments that align with their needs.
What This Map Represents
These maps represent a data-driven view of community conditions across DeKalb County, highlighting key indicators such as demographics, income, housing, education, employment, and business activity. Together, they provide a visual understanding of how resources, opportunity, and investment are distributed across different areas.
By layering multiple data points, the maps help reveal patterns and relationships,such as how income aligns with education levels, how housing values relate to demographics, or where jobs and workplaces are concentrated. This allows for a deeper understanding of both strengths and disparities within and across communities.
The maps are designed to be interactive, enabling users to explore trends geographically, compare regions, and see how their own neighborhood fits into the broader landscape. Ultimately, they serve as a tool to inform community development, guide decision-making, and empower residents with accessible, meaningful data.
Why It Matters
Understanding this data is critical for advancing effective community and economic development. By analyzing trends across neighborhoods, we can better identify gaps in resources, areas of underinvestment, and opportunities for growth. This allows leaders, organizations, and residents to move beyond assumptions and make informed, data-driven decisions that are grounded in real community conditions.
These insights help guide where to focus efforts,whether that’s expanding access to capital, supporting small businesses, improving infrastructure, or strengthening workforce development. Ultimately, it enables a more targeted and equitable approach to building stronger communities.
Equally important, this work is about making data accessible to the community. By putting information into clear, usable formats, residents can better understand their own neighborhoods, advocate for their needs, and actively participate in shaping the future of their communities.
The Bigger Picture
These maps are part of a broader effort by BF Fund to understand, document, and respond to the realities shaping our communities. At BF Fund, we believe that access to clear, meaningful data is essential to advancing community and economic development, especially in areas that have historically experienced disinvestment and limited access to resources.
By combining data with community voice, we aim to bridge the gap between what residents experience and how decisions are made. These insights help inform our work across workshops, technical assistance, research, and future lending,ensuring that our strategies are grounded in real conditions and aligned with community needs
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The bigger picture is about more than analysis, it’s about action. These maps support a larger vision to expand access to capital, strengthen local businesses, and equip communities with the tools and information needed to advocate for themselves. Through this work, BF Fund is building a foundation for more equitable, informed, and community-driven development.
Education & Income: Understanding Opportunity Across Communities
The map highlights educational attainment alongside median household income, providing insight into how access to education and economic outcomes are connected across different communities. This comparison helps reveal patterns of opportunity, upward mobility, and areas where gaps may exist.
Use the slider to explore how these two data points relate across neighborhoods and regions. You can also enter your address to see how your community compares and better understand its place within the broader economic landscape.
Demographics & Housing Wealth: A Community Snapshot
The map highlights the distribution of the Black population alongside median home values, offering a clearer view of how demographics and housing wealth intersect across different communities. This comparison helps illustrate patterns of investment, opportunity, and long-standing disparities in the built environment.
Use the slider to explore how these two data points relate across neighborhoods and regions. You can also enter your address to see how your community compares and better understand its position within the broader landscape.
Jobs & Economic Activity: A Community Employment Snapshot
The map displays total employment alongside the number of workplaces for individuals age 16 and older, offering a view into where people work and how economic activity is distributed across communities. This comparison helps highlight concentrations of jobs, access to employment, and potential gaps in local economic infrastructure.
Use the slider to explore how these two data points relate across neighborhoods and regions. You can also enter your address to see how your community compares and better understand its role within the broader workforce landscape.
White Papers, Research and Blogs
Community Development from the Grass Up: Re-centering Community Voice, Data, and Practice
Over the past 20 years I have been engaged in grass roots organizing. At 19, I worked to bring together the Eastside and Westside of Atlanta because I saw gentrification coming that was going to remove Bowen Homes (no longer there). In these papers we seek to examine how we bring together the streets, grassroots organizers, the people, educational institutions and financial institutions together to develop community. This paper is an introduction to how we’re beginning the journey into community development, grounded in both lived experience and data. It serves as the starting point for a broader, ongoing series focused on understanding and addressing disinvestment, starting with “What Happened to the Southside.”
Self-Determination Starts With a Plan: Why Your Business Plan Is Your Most Powerful Asset
At BF Fund Inc., self-determination is not just a value we hang on a wall — it is the heartbeat of everything we do. We believe that communities thrive when individuals have the power to shape their own economic futures. And that power? It starts with a plan. A business plan is more than a document. It is a declaration. It says: I know where I am going, I know how I will get there, and I am taking control of my future. For Black entrepreneurs and small business owners who have historically been locked out of capital, credit, and opportunity, a solid business plan is one of the most radical acts of self-determination available. In this post, we break down why your business plan matters, what it should include, and how BF Fund Inc. can walk alongside you as you build it.