Mayor's Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity

The Mayor’s Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity (CEO), Philadelphia’s Community Action Agency, serves as the backbone agency for the Shared Prosperity Philadelphia collective impact effort. The City launched the office by executive order in January 2013 with an ambitious goal: to organize and implement a coordinated approach to reduce poverty—an approach that could get off the ground quickly and last for as long as necessary. Collaboration is key. CEO convenes stakeholders from the government, philanthropy, academia, business and resident communities to achieve a common understanding of poverty in Philadelphia and everyone’s role in the solution.

Shared Prosperity Philadelphia is the first step in creating and implementing a comprehensive strategy to address poverty in Philadelphia. Persistent poverty threatens our city’s future in numerous ways. It exacts a continuing toll in terms of lost tax revenue and high demand for city services. Worse, it deprives us of the potential contributions of thousands of our citizens.

We can only build a thriving Philadelphia for everyone if we act to prevent this legacy from being passed to yet another generation. Shared Prosperity Philadelphia builds a foundation for systemic, long-term change.