Youth-Centered Data Push Back at False Narratives with Monique Robinson, Reconcile New Orleans

On Monday, April 13, 2026, 150 people gathered for the launch of something New Orleans has never had: a public data dashboard tracking the outcomes, opportunities, and barriers facing Opportunity Youth — young people ages 16-24 who are disconnected from school or work.

The New Orleans Opportunity Youth Collaborative's data dashboard launch has been more than fifteen years in the making, through leadership changes, funding gaps, and a pandemic. We are grateful to the organizations currently contributing data, the young people who helped us define what to measure, and our funding partners who have supported this work through every iteration.

In this interview, Monique Robinson, Chief Program Officer with Reconcile New Orleans, shares her experiences and expectations as a data partner in the Opportunity Youth Collaborative.

New Orleans has one of the highest youth disconnection rates in the country — 15.5%, compared to 11.2% nationally. But here is what that number alone does not tell you: it is going down. That means more of our youth and young adults are earning credentials and income, building skills and supportive relationships, and exploring pathways that provide purpose, meaning, and stability.

The reduction in Opportunity Youth in New Orleans — or put another way, the
maintained connection or reconnection to meaningful and supportive
opportunities to learn and earn — is not a coincidence. It is the direct result of organizations aligning strategy, sharing data, and using evidence to understand what works. When we move together, outcomes shift.

Public data is what ensures investments are evaluated on evidence, not assumptions. When the numbers are visible, the conversation changes — decision-makers can see what is working, where gaps remain, and what is at stake.

The dashboard was developed by the New Orleans Opportunity Youth
Collaborative, co-led by the Children and Youth Planning Board (CYPB) and the New Orleans Youth Alliance (NOYA). It organizes coordinated data on education pathways, workforce connection, youth well-being, and program outcomes, and it is designed to grow as the ecosystem expands.

Right now, programs, systems, and agencies each hold pieces of the story, but rarely the full picture. If that data were integrated, if we could see not just who is disconnected but why, we could refine our approaches, close gaps, and truly deliver on every young person’s needs.

The Opportunity Youth Collaborative is the infrastructure, the data dashboard is the tool, and the Youth Master Plan is the roadmap.

The Youth Master Plan outlines 30 solutions and targeted goals — co-created with lived and learned experience — that center child and youth wellbeing from birth through age 24. The plan is about systems-level change and improved outcomes across development stages. To make any lasting impact, our data and our solutions must be holistic, comprehensive, and community-driven.

And while systems are still catching up, young people are already leading. Our city’s youth are showing up at City Hall and the State Capitol. They are conducting research, producing data, and advocating for the very systems that impact them. They are not waiting for the infrastructure to be perfect. They are building it alongside us, and holding systems and leaders accountable. That is what this dashboard represents: a public commitment to the young people who are already doing the work.

The data dashboard is a tool built for anyone who makes decisions about young people’s lives, and for the young people living them. Use this dashboard. Look at it. Ask questions. Understand what disconnection actually means, what drives it, who it affects, and what the data tells us about the policies, systems, and narratives that surround it. Let it inform your decisions, your funding, and your priorities.

Young people in New Orleans are not waiting for permission to
lead. The question is whether the rest of us are willing to match their
commitment. This city has always been defined by the people willing to build what others said was impossible. Young people are building it right now.
The data is live. The table is set. All that is missing is you.

LINKS:
New Orleans Opportunity Youth Data Dashboard:
https://nolayouthmasterplan.org/oy-data-dashboard

The New Orleans Opportunity Youth Collaborative:
https://nolayouthmasterplan.org/oy-collaborative

The New Orleans Youth Master Plan:
https://nolayouthmasterplan.org/

Reconcile New Orleans:
https://cafereconcile.org/

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