Charlotte’s economic mobility was the nation’s worst. A new tool measures progress.

Leading on Opportunity has launched its new Opportunity Compass, a tool aimed at measuring Charlotte’s progress on economic mobility.

The Charlotte-based organization was created in 2017 to address key determinants of economic mobility after a national study done by a Harvard University economist ranked the city last in economic mobility in 2014.

While community leaders have since focused on improving the city’s standings, this tool will be the first effective way to measure its progress, a team from the nonprofit told the Charlotte Observer Tuesday.

“This is very much a journey,” Sheri Chisholm, executive director of Leading on Opportunity, said. “It took us generations to get here, and it will take generations to get out.”

The new compass aims to serve as a guide for philanthropists, investors, officials and nonprofits to determine the most effective way to improve Charlotteans’ lives. Leading on Opportunity partnered with community leaders to develop the new tool.

The new tool measures four factors of economic mobility identified in a report prepared by the Opportunity Task Force in 2017. They include college and career readiness, child and family stability, early care and education as well as segregation.

In 2014, when Harvard economist Raj Chetty released his study on economic mobility nationwide, North Carolina’s largest city ranked last among the fifty biggest metro areas in the country. The Land of Opportunity study, commonly called the Chetty study, galvanized leaders to improve the future of Charlotte’s youth.

Following the study, officials created the Opportunity Task Force report to give local leaders a common language and nearly 100 recommendations to advance economic mobility.

The compass uses publicly available data, like the American Community Survey, to establish a baseline for local leaders and nonprofits.

It also tracks evidence based-drivers — half of which were tracked in the Chetty study — of economic mobility. The data reveals the community is moving in the right direction on 23 of the 33 areas measured, the nonprofit shared with the Observer.

Continued input from the community will help sharpen the tool in measuring progress for the future.

“This is a tool built by Charlotte, for Charlotte,” A.J. Calhoun, Leading on Opportunity’s senior manager of data and evaluation, said.

Readers may use the compass by visiting www.leadingonopportunity.org/compass.