Background

North Carolina is undergoing rapid change — in its population, its economic base, its patterns of settlement. Of all the predictions for the future, only one seems certain. More change will come, and it will come with ever-increasing speed. As North Carolinians, our challenge is to ensure that these changes 1) bring increasing health and prosperity for all citizens and 2) preserve and enhance the state's environment and quality of life. The North Carolina Progress Board was created to help answer this challenge.

Mission

The board serves as an independent proponent for strategic thinking, action and accountability. Specifically, our mission is to keep leaders and citizens alike focused on the big picture: the long-term goals and needs of our state and its people. This means identifying critical issues, setting milestones, checking progress, reporting data, recommending course corrections, and considering and reporting imaginative solutions to jumpstart change.

Strategies

Measurement. The board is most widely recognized for its periodic Scorecards, which monitor the state's progress toward long-term goals in critical areas.

Consensus building. Achieving long-term goals requires commitment that outlasts the election-year cycle. The board seeks to build a consensus across political, social, and geographic boundaries.

Engagement. Through public discussions, publications, analysis, and testimony, we try to keep these long-term goals before the public and to stimulate thoughtful discussion about programs and policies that hold the most promise for moving us forward.

Accountability. Our Scorecard shows in concrete terms whether the state is moving in the right direction. It can be used to illuminate political platforms, to judge the successes or failures of existing initiatives, and to hold leaders accountable for results.

 Top