Ellen started her career with a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology and spent several years with AT&T as a Capacity Planner/Manager. Taking these actions will give individuals a better experience, and also strengthen the overall community. Carol Redmond Naughton is the Chief Executive Officer of Purpose Built Communities, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving racial equity, economic mobility and health outcomes in communities across the country. Elly Yu/WABE In her current role as Human Resources and Office Manager, Linda plays a critical role in attracting, retaining, and developing top talent within our organization. Editor. This area is important to the citys economic history as Columbus was founded on the commodity of cotton and textile production. Prior to joining AHA, Ms. Naughton was engaged in the private practice of law with Sutherland, Asbill and Brennans real estate group, where she primarily represented real estate developers, lenders and asset managers. As a teacher, he led his students to achieve significant academic progress. In 2013-2014 Michelle was host of Growth Matters, a weekly radio show where she dialogued with executives and entrepreneurs about their insights into growing an organization in todays competitive environment. At the time, East Lake was known as "little Vietnam' by local police because of its high drug and crime rates. Evan Smith is a Vice President at Purpose Built Communities, a non-profit, pro bono consulting firm that believes everyone deserves the opportunity to live and raise their children in communities where they can achieve their full potential. If 200 people end up being housed in the Alexandria village, its total construction cost, which was about $8.6 million, works out to $43,000 per bed, and running the site costs $55 per person per . Gulfton/Sharpstown is the most diverse neighborhood in the most diverse city in the country. Cleveland has one. April Callen is the Director, Racial Equity Programs at Purpose Built Communities. Purpose Built Communities was established in 2009 to replicate the East Lake model in other urban areas of concentrated poverty around the nation. Our Solution Tackling such complex, deeply-rooted issues as intergenerational poverty, unsafe environments, high crime, and failing schools presents many challenges. News of the transformation drew interest from officials in other cities who wanted the blueprint for East Lake's success. She also works as a bookkeeper for Remerge, a nonprofit facilitating collaborative opportunities to accelerate belonging & flourishing in local communities. You may opt-out by. For more than 13 years prior to joining Purpose Built Communities, Mikki served as Vice President of Development for The Michaels Organization, one of the nations largest affordable housing developers. When funding for the orphanage dried up, the Masons closed the orphanage and then sold the land in 2005. She began as senior vice president of the nonprofit and was elevated to president in 2015, with a goal of replicating East Lake's best practices in other poor neighborhoods. "That's kind of how we think about our work that if the place supports people, the people are going to thrive," she says. Alexandra is a proud Georgia Bulldawg completing her undergraduate studies at The University of Georgia as both an NCAA Scholar Athlete dancer and HOPE Scholarship recipient. 'Chief Storytellers': The Newest City Trend? NAUGHTON: The folks from the East Lake Foundation and the housing authority started meeting together to plan what we would do if we could do something better. Within a decade, the old brick-and-mortar housing units were gone, replaced by units that mimicked some of Atlanta's best private-market residences. People appreciate being welcomed and valued. Along the way, weve answered some big questions, such as: The Mill District is a defined project area that encompasses four older and historic neighborhoods: City Village, North Highland, Bibb Village, and Anderson Village. When we are part of a thriving community, we feel a sense of kinship, camaraderie and connectedness. Real estate developer Tom Cousins saw great potential, and also a great challenge. In this capacity, she plays a central role in building relationships amongRead More. Youre feeling the effects of the pandemic, quarantines and social isolation acutely. Today, residents are eager to define a new future for their community. Strong communities have a significant sense of purpose. Purpose Built Communities helps local leaders create greater racial equity, economic mobility, and improved health outcomes for families and children. What's the philosophy behind Purpose Built Communities? Community is critical to our overall wellbeing and the decline of our connectedness is coming at the same time mental health issues are on the rise. "It's just a country club," he says. Strong communities are always evolving. Michelle Matthews joined Purpose Built Communities in 2016 as Senior Vice President after leading her own consulting company, Matthews Consulting Group (MCG), for more than a decade. Remind yourself how much you matter, and take action to strengthen and sustain your community. But Oakley says the success has benefited only a small group of people. With over 60 years serving seniors we have experienced this first hand, over and over. NAUGHTON: There are three key strategies. Michelle brings passion, experience and integrity to her work. in Psychology and History from Emory University and an M.S. Where else has Purpose Built Communities had an influence? Up until 1995, the neighborhood was home to East Lake Meadows, a 650-unit public housing complex. She has provided consulting services to a range of nonprofits including Points of Light, The New School, Hands On Georgia, and the Atlanta Womens Foundation. Utilizing our experience, we build all our memory care communities with extra-wide hallways to ensure each lady and gentleman can stroll throughout the community with ease. EvanRead More. The most important thing for people with choice, who think about where they're going to live, is where their kids are going to go to school. Projects he has planned and developed have won the prestigious Congress for New Urbanism Charter Award of Excellence and the National AIA Honor Award. Katie and her husband, Jeff, are parents to Sam and Maya and have been residents of Historic South Atlanta since 2001. We encourage you to reach out to learn more about what we are all about. The golf club has played a central role in a sparking redevelopment, and the neighborhood has avoided some of the typical pitfalls that come with such a transformation. Canopy South exists to connect, convene, and collaborate with a community of doers, with the goal of establishing strong roots of social, educational, and racial equity in South Omaha neighborhoods disconnected from equitable access to opportunity. A principal must not just be a great leader within the school, but also a community leader, and be really connected to what's happening outside of the four walls of the school. Catalinaleads the instructional team at Purpose Built Communities working toward a comprehensive cradle-to-college education strategy for each Purpose Built Communities Network Member. As Development Director for The Georgia Justice Project (GJP), Melissa was responsible for raising 100% of the organizations revenue and led an innovative and successful 25th anniversary campaign that capitalized GJPs five-year strategic growth plan. Our school, Drew Charter School, became one of the highest-performing schools in Atlanta. NAUGHTON: There are a number of cities that have more than one of these now. Grove Park Foundation (GPF) has grown out of the efforts to restore several historic neighborhoods suffering from decades of disinvestment and environmental degradation on the Westside of Atlanta. While working as a manager in the Teach For America Rio Grande Valley office, he created and championed an alternative goal-setting methodology that was adopted by the other Texas regions. While making a phone call may seem very yesterday, a new study by the University of Texas Austin found voice calls can create stronger bonds than text messages. In going from an unhealthy environment to a nurturing one, has Purpose Built Communities noticed that link? In a wide-ranging interview, Naugton and Eytan Davidson, Purpose Built Communities' vice president of communications, talked about the creation of their organization, how housing and. The goal of his program is to prepare leaders to have a systemic impact on the American education sector. Despite your success, there must still be challenges. We've got to have partners on the ground who buy into the idea that the school is kind of the epicenter of the neighborhood. Youre missing your people, your network and your community. In all of his work, he saw many students achieve great successes, but was struck by how a childs zip code remained a significant predictor of their life outcomes. In her role as Director of Development, Amy Clear plays a crucial role in advancing the organizationsvision for equitable community development. Can Five Generations Coexist In The Workplace? The Purpose Built Communities model of holistic . Purpose Built Communities has 28 neighborhood revitalization projects underway and another 50 in development across 34 US states. Purpose Built Communities is a nonprofit entity that already is working on redevelopment projects in a half-dozen cities around the country. Diversity followed excellence. Build your community by seeking new learning and stretching your own skills. Michelle graduated summa cum laude from Spelman College, with an economics degree. The Buckeye-Woodhill and Glenville neighborhoods are places of great opportunity and unique challenges. Danny Shoy Jr., who leads the East Lake Foundation, says East Lake upends the typical story line of housing prices going up and low-income people being forced out. Corporate membership in the golf club is $125,000, and there's a suggested donation of $200,000 to the East Lake Foundation. (Renee Hannans/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP). As Vice President of Network Development and Engagement at Purpose Built Communities, she supportsRead More, Vice President of Network Development and Engagement. We are social animals and our instinct is to find strength in numbers. The course used to be a neglected landscape of dry patches, where golfers might have to dodge the occasional stray bullet. Linda Roberts joined Purpose Built Communities in its infancy in 2009. Omaha / Seventy Five North Revitalization Corp. Purpose Built Communities Announces 2023 Truist Foundation Racial Equity Ambassadors Cohort, Senator Coons announces Logan Herring Sr. from REACH Riverside as State of the Union guest, 2022 A Year of Thinking Big, Diving Deeper and Creating Impact, Georgia Power Foundation Awards $3 Million Grant to Purpose Built Communities, Purpose Built Communities Convening Brings Together Network Leaders. For more than 13 years prior to joiningRead More. Founded in 2009, Purpose Built Communities is taking on the task together with local partners in 28 cities around the United States. Now, it's a PGA destination. After yoga, invite a new attendee to have a physically-distanced coffee with your core group, or ask for input from a colleague on your project. They turned to the East Lake Foundation, where Carol at the time was the executive director. "It's still benefiting the people that were here prior to the gentrification.". For seven years leading up to the creation of Purpose Built Communities, she served as the Executive Director of the East Lake Foundation, the innovative nonprofit organization that serves as the community quarterback organization for the East Lake neighborhood. 2023 Purpose Built Communities. In her current role as Human Resources and Office Manager, Linda plays a critical role in attracting, retaining, and developing top talent within our organization. Cousins is the man behind some of Atlanta's most prominent buildings, and when the city began tearing down public housing in the '90s, he says, he wanted to try something different with East Lake. When President Eisenhower created the U.S. Interstate Highway System in 1956, transportation planners tore through the nation's urban areas with freeways that . Eva Davis, an East Lake Meadows resident, and Renee Glover, the new CEO of the Atlanta Housing Authority, also played integral roles in the transformation. It became one of the top schools in Atlanta, and that's when it started attracting a more economically and racially diverse population. As members of community, people dont just want to lay bricks, they want to build a cathedral. A just-published study by Ohio State University found people feel more supported when their networks are more tightly knit. This was because the networks in cities were denserwith more people exchanging ideas and testing new thinking across social and professional groups. Ms. Naughton serves as the on the Board of the Directors of the Low Income Investment Fund, and serves on several national advisory boards including Build Healthy Places Network and Fifth Third Banks National Community Advisory Forum. It was really hard. 2023 Purpose Built Communities. Mikki is a seasoned and passionate community development professional whose career has been intentionally focused on affordable housing development, community engagement and capacity building. Zenith Houston is the Senior Vice President of Strategic Partners, where she leads all fundraising, communications, and marketing efforts and design systems aimed at advancing Purpose Built Communities mission. We appreciate a small circle of people, but need larger circles as well. Purpose Built works to improve neighborhoods so that they become platforms that support families working to improve their lives. Truist Foundation Racial Equity Ambassadors. Within a strong community, people feel valued and all work has dignity. "So everything you see today you can do, and we are doing in public school systems. New findings published in the Journal of Neuroscience found people made better decisions when they considered others. In addition to supporting high quality schools, he is energized by the potential to improve conditions in neighborhoods so that all children can reach their full potential. Catalina has focused her work most recently inboth teacher and leadership development. This work includes direct consultation with schools, districts, community quarterback organizations and boards on the implementation of a high quality education pipeline in a Purpose Built Community. Her broad scope of experience supporting busy executives and skills in event planning and budget management skills ensure smooth day-to-day operations at Purpose Built Communities. Currently, Zenith serves on the board of AFS-USA, Veritas School of Social Science, Alliance Theatre, and the Marietta-Roswell Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She has received numerous recognitions for her leadership that includes the Atlanta Hawks Forever 404 Honoree, Atlanta Business Leagues Top 100 Black Women of Influence, 100 Black Men of North Atlanta Image Award, Chick-fil-A True Inspiration Award, and Kenny Leons True Color Theatre Companys 52 Weeks of Women. Amy Clear is a seasoned fundraising professional with years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Sure, youve stayed in touch with those with whom youre closest, but your more distant ties are diminishing, disappearing or declining. A cultural critic and communications strategist by training, April has analyzed popular media and communications, politics, and culture to identify necessary intervention points to tell new, more affirming stories about Black people and other people of the global majority for more than ten years. And I didn't understand why. When East Lake Meadows Public Housing was torn down, residents were offered the chance to return to the new community, but they had to meet some requirements: no felony record and either employed or in training. A former Atlanta housing project has become a model for neighborhood revitalization, and its architects are spreading their messageelsewhere. How can we reimagine housing to advance equity? "Investing In What Works for America's Communities It Takes a Neighborhood: Purpose Built Communities and Neighborhood Transformation", "The East Lake Story | Community Redevelopment | Atlanta, Georgia | East Lake Foundation", "Mission | Community Redevelopment | Atlanta, Georgia | East Lake Foundation", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Purpose_Built_Communities&oldid=1082436661, Non-profit organizations based in the United States, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 13 April 2022, at 05:08. The Purpose Built newsletter offers insights into the many facets of community development, news from Network Member, the latest research and information on best practices for removing barriers to racial equity, and much more. Katie previously served as Executive Director of Focused Community Strategies (FCS) and led multiple initiatives creating mixed-income housing, economic development, job creation, youth development and food security in neighborhoods on Atlantas south side. How do we eliminate the contributors to toxic stress that lead to negative health outcomes? [2] As of 2021, Purpose Built Communities is present in 15 states throughout the United States. Michelle Matthews joined Purpose Built Communities in 2016 as Senior Vice President after leading her own consulting company, Matthews Consulting Group (MCG), for more than a decade. Ben is the Special Assistant to the CEO at Purpose Built Communities. She has also appeared as a CNN guest on the program Your Money, where she shared her experiences in leadership and change. James Jim Brooks, AICP, is Vice President of Housing and Community Development. Zenith Houston is the Senior Vice President of Strategic Partners, where she leads all fundraising, communications, and marketing efforts and design systems aimed at advancing Purpose Built Communities mission. Backed by in-depth research and accompanied by news and analysis . As Carol Naughton one of the architects of the turnaround puts it: "If the water is clean, the fish will be fine.". Or youre participating on a key project which will affect the user experience for your companys customers. We are working together to transform communities. Today, Growing Together and its partners are building on that solid foundation in the neighborhood, which serves as a hub for Tulsas vibrant Latinx community. Newer townhouses are seen in the East Lake Meadows community of Atlanta in 1998, with older apartments and an elderly center visible in the background. This newsletter provides resources to help engage communities and partners, insights to lessons learned, and proven solutions from Network Members. She is an alumnus of Leadership Atlanta (Class of 2020), the Atlanta Regional Leadership Institute, and REALITY Impact Israel. Racial equity, health outcomes, and economic mobility are central to our approach and that of our Network. Catalina is thrilled to be working with Purpose Built Communities and all the education initiatives that will continue to grow across the network. Build your community by keeping your purpose in mind and reminding yourself of how your contribution matters. In other words, when your own connections know each other, youre more likely to feel supported. That was basically from 2005 through 2008 to 2009, when they all worked really hard to figure out the right neighborhood. East Lake Foundation President Danny Shoy Jr. "They're only taking the best of the best," says Deirdre Oakley, who teaches sociology at Georgia State University. Gavin Newsom is facing criticism from community organizations after he declined for the second straight year to provide money in the state budget for a proposed fund . Before that he served as an assistant principal, English and social studies teacher, track coach, and community school coordinator in Philadelphia. Before founding MCG, Michelle was a senior manager for IBM, KPMG Consulting and Accenture. In the end, only about a quarter of the residents returned, and that's led to criticism that East Lake's improvements stem from a strategy of cherry-picking residents. Born and raised in LaBelle, Florida, Evan loves outdoor adventures. I remember the residents for a long time kept saying they wanted all-brick buildings. People were worried about guns and gun violence. We didn't appreciate that the community development business was, in many ways, the arms and legs of the public health world, the community-level health world. Prior to his tenure with AHA, he was a Senior Planning and Development Officer for the City of Atlanta/Fulton County. A strategic seniorRead More, Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships. moment. Help members of your group who are struggling by encouraging plenty of expression, especially from those with fresh or novel opinions. Michelles guidance has enabled nonprofit organizations, such as Families First, the Task Force for Global Health, and Communities in Schools of Atlanta; educational institutions, such as Spelman College and Atlanta Public Schools; and numerous Fortune 500 companies, such as Delta Air Lines, Kimberly Clark and Georgia Pacific to implement strategic change and improve individual, team and organizational performance. New research published in The Economic Journal found the most novel, disruptive innovations, and those which linked technologies across and between fields were most likely to arise within cities. During her time at FrameWorks, April co-led a project to reframe intergenerational poverty and race to support Purpose Builts narrative change strategies. Through the middle of the 1900s in racially-segregated Columbus, well-known African-American entertainers, such as the likes of Sammy Davis, Jr. and Ella Fitzgerald, frequently performed to white audiences downtown, but they were not welcome as overnight guests in that part of the city. Newer townhouses are seen in the East Lake Meadows community of Atlanta in 1998, with older apartments and an elderly center visible in the background. We work with local leaders to improve equity and opportunity in neighborhoods nationwide. Hack was attracted by the safety and affordability. 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