This video features Monique Woodard, a venture capital investor who is a contributor to our Builders and Benefactors series. Monique is part of a network of private equity investors, venture capitalists, and founders of color who are intentionally investing to close…
A Day in a Life: Imagining a Country without Racial Gaps [INFOGRAPHIC]
At Living Cities, we are actively working to reimagine a world without racial wealth and income gaps. This second iteration of our A Day in a Life infographic is one of our visions for what that world might look like….
Through the Eyes of Wakanda: On Screen Lessons for Off Screen Impact
Join us throughout the upcoming weeks as we feature the stories and work of Builders and Benefactors, a network of private equity investors, venture capitalists, and founders of color who are intentionally investing to close racial wealth and income gaps. Together,…
Normalizing Deep Conversations about Race through Coaching
This blog is part of a series that will tell the story of our organizational shift toward centering racial equity by sharing details of the experience and how we’ve handled bumps along the way with an emphasis on the ways…
Reflections on Leading Racial Equity Work in Collective Impact
OneCranston’s story has many similarities to the stories of those leading racial equity and inclusion work in many cities and institutions throughout our country. As we read and hear about more and more institutions each day talking about race and…
Lessons Learned from Regional Inclusive Economic Growth
We spoke with Living Cities members, partners and practitioners in the field to gather the critical lessons from past regional efforts in the US. We’ve shared why Living Cities is looking at a regional approach on inclusive economic growth in…
Building Local Startup Ecosystems That Work for Entrepreneurs of Color
In light of our ImpactAssets50 recognition, we are sharing blog posts, originally posted at Impact Alpha, that highlight the unique values that led the Catalyst and Blended Catalyst Funds to be included in the ImpactAssets 50 among an impressive set of peers…
Building OneCranston through Collective Impact
As a Working Cities Challenge participant, Cranston, Rhode Island is working to undo the city’s longstanding racial divides. Two partners in the work reflect on efforts to build unity through collective impact, and share tools and resources that they’ve found…
What Does Racial Equity & Inclusion Look Like for the Public Sector?
Where do we go from here? That is the question. There was a training, or a book, or a conversation with a person you trust that broke down systemic racism for you. Now you can’t unlearn what you know but…
Finding the Roots of Our Histories Towards Collective Liberation
This blog is part of a series of blogs highlighting Living Cities staff’s various cultures in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage month. Malaysia is one of the top producers of rubber. As I reflect on Asian Pacific Heritage month,…
You Are What You Eat – Reclaiming my South Indian Heritage
Food can be a way of preserving culture and maintaining a connection to home in a foreign place, as was the case in my family. In honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I’m sharing a favorite family recipe…
Bringing Our Results Framework to Life: Building a Data Culture
In the first of this two-part series, we introduced the intersection of racial equity and results-focus in our work, and shared how we’ve come to recognize that any strategy for economic justice must address structural racism as a root cause. In…
The Little-Known History of Chinese Restaurants
For Asian Pacific American Heritage month, I wanted to share a portion of my culture’s history. We need to be able to support each other to lift up our voices and share how our struggles are rooted in white supremacy…
Asking the Right Questions to Guide Investments in Closing Racial Wealth Gaps
In light of our ImpactAssets50 recognition, we will be sharing blog posts, originally posted at Impact Alpha, that highlight the unique values that led the Catalyst and Blended Catalyst Funds to be included in the ImpactAssets 50 among an impressive set of…
A Different Philanthropic Approach: Seeding Hope in Regional Inclusive Growth
In my work, I think a lot about Monarch butterflies and how it takes them approximately five generations to migrate from Canada to Mexico. This is what generational work looks like – they fly and carry the mantle for future…
Navigating Collective Impact through a Mayoral Transition
Lessons and resources from Albuquerque around sustaining cross-sector work through a mayoral transition. On Wednesday 5/15, Living Cities and Albuquerque, NM cross-sector leadership will present at the Collective Impact Forum. Their session titled “Navigating Collective Impact through a Mayoral Transition” will…
Adapt to Changing Needs, and Other Lessons from Living Cities’ Pay for Success Investments
In light of our ImpactAssets50 recognition, we will be sharing blog posts, originally posted at Impact Alpha, that highlight the unique values that led the Catalyst and Blended Catalyst Funds to be included in the ImpactAssets 50 among an impressive set of…
Centering Community in Collective Impact
Through a decade of place-based work, we’ve gathered these tools and lessons for bringing community voice into the collective impact model. How can these apply to your own work? Through our place-based work over the last 10 years, Living Cities…
Apply a racial lens, and other lessons from Living Cities’ impact investments
Race-neutral efforts to boost economic opportunity have failed. Going forward, organizations across sectors must deliberately incorporate a racial lens into their economic security efforts. In light of our ImpactAssets50 recognition, we will be sharing blog posts, originally posted at Impact Alpha, that…
Accelerating Government’s Knowledge of Undoing Racism
Once upon a time, city government support for local business was pretty straightforward. Cities could cut taxes, dole out incentives, loosen regulations, or all three; these were the levers local government deployed to attract, retain and grow local businesses. That…