Federal Management and Direction for the Initiative

The Community Empowerment Board provides overall management and coordination of the program at the federal level. The board, which is chaired by the Vice President, includes cabinet Secretaries and Directors of more than 20 federal agencies and departments. It establishes the program's broad policy and goals.

The U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Agriculture share responsibilities for federal level oversight and management of the local EZ/EC projects. HUD is the primary federal agency for the designated urban sites and USDA has the lead for the rural localities.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Community Services manages $1 billion in special grants for local Round One EZ/EC projects. Detailed information about the OCS grants is posted in the section titled, "EZ/EC SSBG Grants Management Information."

All other federal domestic agencies support the EZ/EC projects according to their subject matter expertise. They attempt to provide technical assistance and grant resources, as appropriate, to help the local EZ/EC projects achieve their long-term goals.