Project Noir 2024 survey is closed!

Stay tuned for programming, events and our 2024 Project Noir Report.

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Please read our thank you letter here!

The Webby Awards, led by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), recognize excellence on the Internet and have honored Living for We for its impactful exploration of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“If you are not investing in the future and success of these women in the city, then you are at a loss,” said Enlightened Solutions’ co-founder, Chinenye Nkemere. 

Nkemere said she's interested to hear how Northeast Ohio's Black women view the region's DEI initiatives since 2020, such as declarations of racism as a public health crisis, or the Cleveland Commission on Black Women and Girls.

Now, the big question before us is: Has anything changed? Are Black women and girls in Cleveland faring better today than in 2020?

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“Many things have changed since 2020,” says Nkemere. “When we published our [2020 survey] results, that was at the beginning of America’s ‘white to racial’ reckoning.”

$200,000 over two years to Enlightened Solutions to support its research-based solutions that center the lived experiences of a diverse group of Black women in Cleveland, such as the Project Noir survey.

“If you get poor service at a restaurant, you absolutely will not go back to that restaurant,” Nkemere said.

“Why would we think that somebody that has chronic healthcare problems would want to go back to the same exact doctor, the same exact health care system, to receive the same exact terrible, dismissive and racist care?”

Enlightened Solutions, the Cleveland research and advocacy firm behind the Project Noir study, is consulting with the city on this initiative, providing both data and expertise in developing and gathering the metrics required to measure the Commission’s progress over time.  

Their latest endeavor is Project Noir, a survey for Black Women and Femmes that examines their lived experiences in the workplace, healthcare, and education in Cleveland.

Following Cleveland being ranked by Bloomberg City Lab as the worst city for Black Women to live, Bethany and ChiChi strategized on how to change that. Much can be said about their efforts to hold Cleveland accountable.

Rice points directly to a 2020 "Project Noir” report ranking Cleveland as “The worst city for Black women,” as an explanation for why the numbers are so bad locally.

"Moms really reporting similar situations and instances that are also mentioned in that study. I believe there's a correlation in what they experience," says Rice.

A few weeks ago on the "Sound of Ideas," we talked to the founders of a local research and advocacy firm, Enlightened Solutions, about the results of a year-long survey project called Project Noir, which asked Black women across Northeast Ohio to share their personal accounts of what it's like living in Cleveland. The survey got more than 450 anonymous responses.  

Two Northeast Ohio residents have created a project called Project Noir, a study with a series of questions that appraises the depths of struggles for Black women in Cleveland. More than 400 women have participated in the study.

“Black women are not taken as full human beings. We are flattening their experiences,” said Nkemere.

"No more forums or discussions. We need individuals that are able to put money to be able to push the needle here because it is an emergency," said director of strategy and co-founder Chinenye Nkemere.

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According to the study, Black women have reported feeling overlooked for a job or promotion, being underpaid, and left out of important meetings in the workplace.

On the "Sound of Ideas," we'll begin the hour by learning more about the results of the survey, released to the public just this week. We'll also find out if there is anything we can glean from the report which could help guide us in the next steps for improving life for the region's Black women. 

Joining us are the two women behind Project Noir, Chinenye Nkemere and Bethany Studenic, co-founders of Enlightened Solutions. 

When a national livability index labeled the Cleveland area as the worst place in the country for Black women, Bethany Studenic and Chinenye (ChiChi) Nkemere wanted to dive deeper.

As co-founders of Enlightened Solutions, a Cleveland-based nonprofit equity research social enterprise firm, Studenic and Nkemere decided to add authentic voices to the statistics.

"This City Lab article made me reflect on the reality of my experiences over the years. I can honestly say I’ve faced my share of challenges in Cleveland, however-  I have also found a tribe of black women who have overcome some of the same obstacles and have excelled right here in Cleveland."

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Courtney Ottrix

From health care to education to economics, a recent study has revealed the worst cities for African American women to live, work and thrive in the United States.
 
Fox 8’s Jennifer Jordan looks at one group of young women jump-starting an aggressive campaign in hopes of wiping out these troubling statistics.

To change this, I am partnering with Enlightened Solutions to present “Project Noir” a research project focused on gaining insight and tangible knowledge from the experiences of Black Women in Cleveland.
 
Together with The LGBT* Center of Greater Cleveland and research assistance from The Center for Community Solutions, they will study the lived experiences of Black Women in Cleveland, Ohio based on three livability metrics: health conditions, education and income/workplace status.