Garden City and Melville, NY – April 12, 2018 – The Rauch Foundation and Newsday announced the launch of nextLI, a digital community and toolbox that will succeed the Long Island Index.

nextLI  is taking over the job of gathering and presenting regional data of importance to Long Island, which has been performed by the Long Island Index for the past 15 years. The Long Island Index’s website (www.longislandindex.org) will continue to make available the data that it has previously compiled and presented to the public. nextLI will carry on the tradition of producing and publishing high-caliber research and information that is essential to understanding Long Island’s regional challenges, while creating an innovative digital platform for civic engagement.

Fifteen years ago, after consultation with Long Island business, political, and civic leaders, the Rauch Foundation created the Long Island Index, a regional index to inspire and advance regional thinking. The Index’s role has been to measure conditions on Long Island and show trends over time, compare Long Island’s situation with those in similar regions, increase awareness of issues and their interrelatedness, and inspire Long Islanders to work together to achieve shared goals. It was a bold – now proven – experiment by the Foundation, which had always intended, once the experiment was completed, to pass the responsibility to another Long Island institution.

nextLI will provide to the public, free of charge, high-quality, independent research and analysis to help Long Island’s leaders and residents address the region’s many challenges. The project’s website will host a digital forum for Long Islanders to discuss their ideas, with the goal of reaching informed consensus on the best path forward. nextLI will be managed by Newsday’s opinion department and will begin work immediately. nextLI will benefit from the input of an advisory board made up by members of the Long Island community.

The Long Island Index will release its final report of regional indicators later this month. That report will wrap up the Index’s work and will include reflections from many members of its advisory committee on the region’s extraordinary opportunities and challenges ahead.

“The Long Island Index has proven beyond doubt the importance of a regional index,” said Nancy Rauch Douzinas, President of the Rauch Foundation. “Its research on the need for a Third Track on the Long Island Rail Road, for instance, was essential to advancing that vital development. But the Rauch Foundation is a grant-making philanthropy and is, therefore, ready to pass the ongoing operation of a regional index to nextLI.  For a limited period of time the Foundation will support the new enterprise to ensure a smooth transition and the carrying forward of the Long Island Index’s educational mission.”

Advancing regional thinking has been the primary goal of the Long Island Index. And its research and the spirit of collaboration reflected in its advisory committee have inspired new models of working together, based on that regional thinking. New vehicles that have emerged include The Energeia Partnership at Molloy College, Accelerate Long Island, and the Right Track for Long Island Coalition.

“Newsday is thrilled to take over the Index’s pioneering effort of providing our region with the data and information required to make better decisions about our future,” said Rita Ciolli, editor of the editorial pages and director of the nextLI project.  “Our mission for over 77 years has been to connect Long Islanders and soon we will debut a digital forum for those conversations to continue.”

For more information, contact Henry Miller – hmiller@highimpactpartnering.com, 917-921-8034.

Newsday Contact: Kim Como, Communication Manager, kim.como@newsday.com, 631-843-2606

About the Rauch Foundation

The Rauch Foundation (www.rauchfoundation.org) is a Long Island-based family foundation that invests in ideas and organizations that spark and sustain early success in children and systemic change in our communities. The Foundation was established in 1961 by Louis Rauch and Philip Rauch, Jr. Funding for the Foundation was made possible by the success of the Ideal Corporation, an auto parts manufacturer founded in 1913 by their father, Philip Rauch, Sr.

About Newsday Media Group

Newsday Media Group (NMG) is one of the nation’s most dynamic media organizations, providing robust content and successful marketing solutions to Long Island and New York City through its portfolio of print, digital and video products. With 19 Pulitzer Prizes, multiple New York Emmy awards and countless honors for outstanding journalism, Newsday reaches five out of 10 Long Island adults each week. In addition to Newsday, NMG properties include amNewYork, New York City’s most widely circulated free daily paper, and Hometown Shopper, one of the Northeast’s largest groups of weekly shopper publications.