The Community Vital Signs illustrated on this site are based on collaborative work done by Social Progress Imperative a global nonprofit supporting cities, regions, and nations to transition to inclusive growth models and the City of San José to develop a tool to help catalyze and facilitate community discussions on how to improve and enhance communities across the city.

The Social Progress Index asks universally important questions about the success of society that measures of economic progress cannot alone address. The Index helps answer those questions with verifiable, credible, and contextually relevant indicators. The city integrated a multitude of local, state, and federal data sources using the Social Progress Index methodology to develop a better understanding of neighborhoods across San José.

This site extends the methodology outlining Community Vital Signs for counties across the country. In addition, the site outlines the Donor Advised Funds and Community Foundation Grants flowing into those communities in each county.

For more information on applying this rubric to your community, contact us at: michael AT michaelasaunders.com.


Ganesh Natarajan is the Founder and Chairman of 5FWorld, a new platform for funding and developing start-ups, social enterprises and the skills eco-system in India. In the past two decades, he has built two of India’s high-growth software services companies – Aptech and Zensar – almost from scratch to global success.




Federal Government Grant and Assistance Programs



Edited by: Michael Saunders

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