Govern emerging systems, not just devices.
AI and automated decision systems, data centers, surveillance, public-sector procurement, consumer data and institutional accountability.
Open the Civic Governance Atlas →Programs and research
Three research lanes. Applied work where evidence can be tested.
NCI is concentrating its portfolio around Civic & Technology Governance, Mobility & Pathways, and Sports Policy & Athlete Mobility. Programs and pilots sit inside those lanes rather than operating as disconnected initiatives.
Research lanes
The portfolio structure.
Connect learning to usable mobility.
BuildReady, GrowReady, literacy implementation, short-form training, stackable credentials, employer validation and measurable placement.
See BuildReady architecture →Follow the athlete across systems.
Michigan Sports Opportunity, high-school PBA/NIL, recruiting, college-sports governance, athlete protection, youth gambling prevention and post-sport mobility.
Explore Michigan Sports Opportunity →Public platforms
Three homes for the work.
NCI keeps research, community-facing implementation and sports mobility distinct enough to be understandable while using a common evidence standard across the institution.
Civic Governance Atlas
Maps authority, procurement, data, evaluation, accountability and exit across consequential public systems.
Explore the Atlas →GrowReady + BuildReady
Community-facing programs that test whether youth, education, workforce and employer handoffs work in practice.
Explore Community Equity Lab →Michigan Sports Opportunity
Research and applied work on equity, access and economic mobility in Michigan sports, with Film Room and Next Play as activations.
Explore Michigan Sports Opportunity →BuildReady
A pathway architecture, not a generic workforce program.
BuildReady is being redesigned around four tests that partners can verify before scaling a training pathway.
Employer validation
Show that multiple employers recognize the occupation, skills and hiring requirements rather than relying on a single sponsor’s promise.
Stackable credentials
Use industry-recognized credentials that can connect to additional education instead of ending in a training dead end.
Workforce Pell readiness
Where a program seeks Workforce Pell eligibility, design around current state and federal requirements and the provider approval process.
Placement and value
Measure completion, job placement, earnings and whether the pathway delivers value relative to program cost.
Current Michigan Workforce Pell and youth-work-permit context →
Community Equity Lab programs
Two programs, two different handoffs.
Community Equity Lab is NCI’s applied work on the handoffs between schools, training, employers, and services, measured by whether people actually get where they were headed.
GrowReady focuses on earlier readiness, place and exposure. BuildReady focuses on the transition into skilled work, credentials and durable employment.
GrowReady
Place-based youth readiness, agriculture and land-based learning, site activation and cross-community cohorts connected to broader education and workforce pathways.
Explore GrowReady →BuildReady
Workforce transition and skilled pathways organized around employer validation, stackable credentials, financing readiness, placement and persistence.
Explore BuildReady →Michigan Sports Opportunity activations
Research that translates into athlete and family use.
Film Room
Case-based evidence sessions on film and data access, discoverability, rules and the decision points that shape athlete opportunity.
Explore Film Room →Next Play
Decision-readiness education on NIL/PBA, recruiting, transfers, money and the transition from sport into the next stage of work or study.
Explore Next Play →Latest sports research: Who Owns the Risk? Sports event contracts in Michigan →