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Entrepreneurs’ resilience in New Orleans shined after Hurricane Katrina and the COVID-19 pandemic, but small businesses now require sustained support

Entrepreneurs’ resilience in New Orleans shined after Hurricane Katrina and the COVID-19 pandemic, but small businesses now require sustained support

Sep 16, 2025

More folks started businesses in Metro New Orleans following both Hurricane Katrina and the COVID-19 pandemic at a higher rate than people did so nationally, filling gaps in recovery efforts and beefing up household resiliency to weathering ever increasing shocks. This report examines entrepreneurial resilience in Metro New Orleans and offers policy recommendations to sustain and accelerate business growth.

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Institutional and community resilience among institutions of higher education in metropolitan New Orleans

Institutional and community resilience among institutions of higher education in metropolitan New Orleans

Aug 19, 2025

Demonstrating their resiliency post-Hurricane Katrina, many local universities cooperated, offering students the ability to take courses at different universities in Metro New Orleans, while these universities recovered. In the years since, these same institutions have hardened their campuses and offer degrees in emergency management, green energy, and coastal restoration, contributing to long-term regional resilience.

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Health as resilience capacity in New Orleans: The critical role of community-based collaborations

Health as resilience capacity in New Orleans: The critical role of community-based collaborations

Aug 18, 2025

Negative shocks, such as natural disasters, are part of the social determinants of health and can interfere with our ability to be resilient when faced with hardship. Understanding what social determinants of health are and making investments based on this understanding to create healthier communities, will in turn help folks be better prepared and better able to bounce back when the next disaster strikes.

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One step forward, three steps back: Criminal legal reform and community safety in New Orleans 20 years after Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures

One step forward, three steps back: Criminal legal reform and community safety in New Orleans 20 years after Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures

Aug 14, 2025

Following the events of Hurricane Katrina, reforms were put in place that reduced the overall prison population, but investments in “social determinants of safety” were still lacking. With a recent return to “tough-on-crime” policies, this report examines how past and present policies and investments in crime reduction have influenced community safety and well-being.

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Creating and sustaining a new kind of education system after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans

Creating and sustaining a new kind of education system after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans

Aug 11, 2025

Post Hurricane Katrina, during a series of events that sought to quickly reform failing schools and ensure every child that needed school placement had one, all NOLA PS schools were converted to charter. As the transition was taking place, OPSB’s role transformed and the community's relationship to local schools changed dramatically. This paper assesses the pros and cons of this transition to a mostly charter system and describes how the school environment has changed since Hurricane Katrina.

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Access to resilient transportation in metropolitan New Orleans

Access to resilient transportation in metropolitan New Orleans

Aug 01, 2025

Increased investment in cross-parish, public transportation can help spur economic and business opportunity and decrease the cost-burden of owning a private vehicle in Metro New Orleans. This paper identifies opportunities for improving the regions public transportation system and highlights investments already made toward this effort.

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