Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) is a Delaware-based nonprofit organization that disseminates a worldwide parenting program fostering strong, healthy relationships in families with infants or toddlers facing adversity. As ABC establishes itself as a nonprofit entity, its executive leadership is challenged with harnessing the program’s exponential growth, revenue potential, and highly committed staff in order to address the fiduciary, legal, and operational challenges that jeopardize the organization’s longevity and success. The team’s interdisciplinary research included an academic review of current literature, as well as an environmental scan of best practices used across the sector and by client peers. The team also conducted supplemental field research—through staff engagement in a series of one-on-one interviews and custom surveys—to assess the internal climate for change and knowledge around the transition process. The team produced a report that includes its research findings and analysis of key issue areas facing ABC, as well as effective recommendations and tools that ABC can utilize throughout the organization’s transition process and beyond.

Numina is a startup founded in 2014 with the mission of empowering cities with data to become more responsive and equitable. Numina offers the only computer vision sensor solution purpose-built for streets—quantifying the granular behaviors of pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles anonymously and in aggregate—and has deployed its technology in 25 cities globally. Numina enlisted a Capstone team to better understand the financing dimension of street data initiatives and to identify potential solutions to sustainability challenges. The team analyzed city spending and current street data procurement practices, determined cost-sharing opportunities with other end users, and identified factors that affect city decisions to open or sell data. The team interviewed city transportation department officials and conducted a document review of city budgets and contracts with data vendors. The team analyzed its findings to identify pathways forward to facilitate equitable cost-sharing mechanisms for street data investments.

The goal of Veggie Fruitful is to minimize the amount of leafy greens and tomatoes that farmers harvest and take to local markets but cannot sell due to their short life span. To understand the market, the Capstone team identified farmers in New York who employ organic practices and conducted a series of interviews with customers as well as executives at GrowNYC, a sustainability organization. Finding that leafy greens and tomatoes are sensitive to weather fluctuation, the team recommended an affordable, lightweight storage device that takes up unused space under the market table and does not require energy. This device can be designed to regulate produce temperature to prolong produce life span at both farm and market stages, especially during extreme heat and harsh winters. The team’s solution can help local, organic farmers grow more crops, yield more sales, and reduce food waste.

C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is a global network of 97 mayors representing member cities that are engaged in low-carbon pathway development in order to confront the climate crisis. The member city of Freetown, Sierra Leone, has initiated the #FreetownTheTreeTown campaign to enhance climate resilience by reforesting parts of its territory with one million trees. Freetown City Council sought to understand the project's sustainability and identify areas for improvement. A Capstone team was tasked with conducting a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) to assess the potential financial, social, economic, and environmental impacts of the campaign. The team reviewed urban reforestation case studies, methodologies for quantifying non-monetary benefits, and carbon trading mechanisms. They also conducted workshops with the client to understand project scope and stakeholder engagements and analyzed program data. The team’s final deliverables consisted of a CBA model, a memorandum detailing outcomes and recommendations, and a presentation to C40 Cities and the campaign project team.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) of 1968 requires homes with federally-backed mortgages and located on land with the greatest risk of flooding to purchase flood insurance. When Hurricane Sandy struck New York in 2012, only 55% of one- to four- family homes in special flood hazard areas (SFHAs) had flood insurance, and many damaged homes in areas considered to be at low risk of flooding were uninsured. Recognizing that policymakers must address the increasing risk of climate change in coastal communities, especially those with high social vulnerability risks, the Capstone team explored the relationship between SFHA designation and neighborhood redevelopment in NYC census tracts impacted by flooding from Hurricane Sandy. Using a publicly available dataset, the team employed multiple regression models to test whether damage from Hurricane Sandy resulted in different development trends in SFHAs compared to non-SFHAs.

The Arthur Project (TAP) is a small nonprofit based in the Bronx that provides therapeutic mentoring services for underserved and vulnerable middle school youth and their families. Seeking to expand its impact, TAP engaged a Capstone team to develop a roadmap for program growth. The team assisted the client in assessing its operational readiness for growth, researching industry best practices, and identifying various models for nonprofit expansion. The team produced a literature review, environmental scan, and recommendations to inform TAP’s expansion. The recommendations include a set of prerequisites that best equip an organization for expansion, a suggested growth structure, and a screening tool to evaluate potential expansion sites.

Broadway for Arts Education (BAE) is a nonprofit organization that partners with the Broadway community and schools to bring transformative arts education programs to underserved youth around the world. BAE’s growing operation runs programs in New York, India, and Haiti with limited staff and resources. As a young organization, BAE is wary of staff burnout and its current strategic plan is disconnected from daily operations and programming. As such, BAE engaged a Capstone team to design performance development and review systems to achieve maximum organizational health, efficiency, sustainability, and impact. The team conducted extensive research with a literature review and an environmental scan consisting of interviews and case studies. An internal examination included surveys and interviews with BAE staff and board members. With its research, the team developed a report with five critical performance development and review recommendations, including a timeline for implementation and a toolkit with templates and resources.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is the authoritative body overseeing airports in the New York metropolitan area: JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark International Airport. To aid in the Port Authority’s goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, its Aviation Department retained the Capstone team to provide analysis and recommendations for enhancing the sustainability of airport concessions and vendors. The team compared the practices of peer airports to those of the Port Authority; provided insight on existing and upcoming sustainable legislation; explored relevant sustainability certifications and accreditations; and proposed a pilot program to be implemented at airport terminals. Using a combination of research, stakeholder interviews and surveys, and key document analysis, the team determined areas of improvement for the Port Authority’s overall sustainability practices. The team’s recommendations include enhancing airport bin practices, creating composting and recycling policies by engaging with concessionaires, and establishing local partnerships to donate leftover food.

How should healthcare systems in the US navigate physician shortage? The COVID-19 pandemic drew attention to this shortage, but other long-term challenges, such as an aging baby-boomer population and climate change, may further stress physician supply. These shortages are occurring at uneven rates across the US, especially in relation to geographic region and practice. A team studied relevant peer-reviewed literature and industry and government reports from the past ten years, and explored a variety of operational and technological solutions that healthcare systems can leverage to manage local physician shortages. However, in this uncertain and evolving environment, organizational strategies alone cannot remediate the national shortage. The team recommends a push for federal and state policy changes to enhance clinical worker pipelines, incentivize the equitable geographic distribution of clinical workers, and increase access to telehealth solutions.