In September 2002, a group of Ohio foundations, led by the Gund Foundation, convened to discuss the challenges of unchecked urban sprawl and unsustainable development in the state. By the end of 2003, the Cleveland Foundation, Greater Cincinnati Foundation, and other Ohio funders committed major grants. In January 2004, the Greater Ohio Campaign was launched as a bipartisan, nonpartisan data-driven campaign. Initially, the Greater Ohio campaign was intended to bring land use and smart growth, and economic redevelopment policies to the fore in the 2006 gubernatorial race.
In 2007, the Greater Ohio campaign incorporated and became a 501(c)3, non-profit organization formally known as the Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC). As we transitioned to becoming a nonprofit, GOPC remained committed to being bi-partisan, nonpartisan, and data-driven. These qualities remain at the heart of who GOPC is today.
Since 2009, our strategic focus has been on Ohio's legacy cities and communities: those places that have lost population and industry and are reinventing themselves. While GOPC initially focused on the state’s large and mid-sized legacy cities (i.e. Cleveland, Toledo, Dayton, Youngstown, etc.) by 2015, we had begun to translate our knowledge of Ohio's policy environment to support community stabilization, revitalization, and economic re-invigoration in Ohio's smaller communities, like Warren, Mansfield, Zanesville, and Portsmouth.
Today, GOPC does original research; undertakes local consulting projects that are consistent with our mission; facilitates peer learning through communities of practices, webinars, and conferences; and effectively advocates at the Statehouse and with state agencies for policies and programs that support revitalization and community vibrancy.
As researchers and community advisors, we recognizes nearly 70% of Ohioans of color live in a legacy city or its surrounding metro, and Ohioans of color are disproportionately represented in Ohio's weak market neighborhoods due to past redlining policies and practices. GOPC is committed to utilizing our expertise to finding and advocating for equitable, sustainable solutions that improve the lives of all Ohioans.
GOPC has offices in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland and our staff and board come from urban, suburban, rural, and Appalachian Ohio.
GOPC is not a membership organization. In recent years, our budget has been roughly 50% philanthropic grants, 45% mission-consistent fee for service projects, and 5% event sponsorships and registration.