Across the board, VPP's investment partners have cited the rigorous, data-driven business planning process that kicks off the relationship as a critically valuable element of the partnership. Four later-stage investment partnerships have substantially increased in the rigor with which they manage, one has made some improvement, one has not made much progress in this area, while the remaining investments are still too early in the process to assess.

One of the more telling examples is how five investment partners have collected and used demographic data to make information-based decisions about their expansion in the region. Having extensive data about demographic shifts, community needs, and partnership and revenue opportunities enables organizational leaders to make informed decisions about their new goals. This kind of data had particular implications for AALEAD, CentroNía, CFNC, the LAYC, and Mary's Center because the populations they serve are growing in number and migrating in the region, and they all have a much better sense of the implication for their aspirations and areas of potential growth. Each investment partner has individually researched and examined demographic information as it pertains to its own growth. Together, they now have the potential to develop an information base that provides an in-depth understanding of the region's demographic shifts, the different needs of a changing multi-cultural population, the resultant mismatch of service supply and demand throughout the region, and the areas most ripe for expansion and partnering. And, as their goals and strategies are acted on-whether it is Mary's Center expanding further into the District of Columbia, the LAYC expanding into the Maryland counties of Prince George's and Montgomery, or Asian American LEAD taking services into Maryland-the investment partners, individually and collectively, are uniquely positioned to meet the challenges shifting demographics make for the National Capital Region.

"Having the demographic information we got from business planning showed us that we could no longer be just a DC organization. Looking at the data has really helped us steer towards the future. There were some areas that we were aware of demographic shifts, but didn't know the specifics, like how the number of Asians in Montgomery County will reach 170,000 by 2010—a very big number. We learned there are 8,000 children of low-income Vietnamese American families in Fairfax County. We wouldn't have known that before. In five years, we're going to become a regional organization and a much stronger organization. We will be an organization that other organizations — Asian or not — will aspire to be."

— Sandy Dang, Executive Director, AALEAD