This session will focus on preparing and workshopping regions’ local “pitches” for their study area strategy. Brookings will also share new insights related to collaboration and civic partnerships in each of the study areas.

This virtual session aims to:

• Deepen understanding of best practices in civic collaboration, particularly as it pertains to regional-local partnerships for hyperlocal data.

• Achieve clarity on the key data and qualitative elements needed to finalize an effective pitch strategy.

• Workshop local “pitches” among the cohort and Brookings researchers.

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Data Collateral:

Presentation Speaker:

Amy Liu | Presidential Advisor and Senior Fellow – The Brookings Institution, Brookings Metro

Amy Liu is a presidential advisor and senior fellow at The Brookings Institution. She advises executive leadership and oversees institution-wide initiatives that bring together leading experts and collaborative approaches to addressing key domestic and international challenges. Liu has nearly three decades of experience as both a scholar and executive, committed to improving governance and public policies at the local, national, and global levels. Most recently, she served as interim president of Brookings, where she guided the institution for 18 months through a period of adaptation and change, leaving it stronger for its next chapter of leadership.

Prior to July 2022, Liu served as vice president and director of Brookings Metro, which she co-founded in 1996. Today, the program is a leading resource for public and private sector leaders interested in promoting prosperous, just, and resilient communities. The program has built a track record of impact by marrying research, civic engagements, and national policy expertise. Liu is an expert on cities and metropolitan areas and the interplay of national, state, and local policies in expanding economic opportunity. She has worked with leaders across the U.S. to translate research insights into action and written extensively about the future of post-pandemic cities, inclusive economic growth, state and local cooperation, and the role of federal policies in supporting place-based revitalization across urban and rural areas. Liu’s paper, “Remaking Economic Development,” spurred the development of new metrics for defining quality economic performance for metro areas and inspired widespread shifts in the goals and practices of many economic developers. Liu has published in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Bloomberg News, and has been cited in The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and other national and local media platforms.

Brookings will present new data for each study area on foot traffic, retail amenities, and retail leakage. Brookings will also present qualitative findings related to destination placemaking, with a particular focus on uplifting arts, culture, and history.  

This virtual session aims to:

• See inside the “Main Street” approach and be able to articulate the principles in theory as well as challenges in practice.

• Understand best practices for strengthening existing cultural and historical assets.

• Connect placemaking solutions with the challenges discussed in earlier sessions (crime, homelessness, parking).

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Guest Presenters:

Jha D Amazi - Principal, MASS Design Group

Jha D leads a portfolio of projects including the Public Memory and Memorials Design Lab, where she leads a multidisciplinary team dedicated to shaping spaces of memory that confront historical injustice and imagine futures of repair. By designing memorials, monuments, and public spaces that honor untold stories and histories, she believes we can create opportunities for learning, dialogue, action, and joy. Since joining MASS, Jha D has led some of the firm’s most iconic and culturally resonant projects, including The Embrace, a memorial to Coretta Scott King and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Boston Common, and the Gun Violence Memorial Project, a traveling installation honoring lives lost to gun violence. Her design leadership continues to elevate the national conversation about how monuments and memorials can embody love, accountability, and community action.

Christopher Kroner - Principal, MASS Design Group

Christopher Kroner believes that design is for everyone and sees architecture and urban design as a daily practice of outreach. His work explores ways of regenerating the urban fabric using both new construction and adaptive reuse.When he joined MASS in 2017, Christopher co-founded the Hudson Valley Design Lab in Poughkeepsie, which harnesses the unique assets—physical infrastructure, cultural heritage, and local leadership—of smaller cities to propel their revitalization. For the last several years they have operated a storefront design center on Main Street in Poughkeepsie that has worked to foster collaborative partnerships of young people, civic organizations, and public leaders, and to build spaces that promote economic development, youth empowerment, and environmental resilience.

Isaac M. Cooper – Founder & CEO, IMC Financial Consulting

Isaac M. Cooper is the founder and CEO of IMC Financial Consulting, LLC, a Birmingham-based firm redefining what accessible wealth management looks like for individuals and communities across all income levels. Grounded in the company’s core philosophy—Exposure. Education. Execution.—Cooper leads a national team that builds generational wealth strategies rooted in practical application and cultural relevance. Cooper is also the architect behind the IMC Financial Freedom Project, one of the country’s leading financial empowerment initiatives. Originally launched in Birmingham City Schools, the project has now expanded to four states and is supported by major financial institutions. It serves K–12 students, faculty/staff, and parents or caretakers, using culturally relevant curricula aligned with state standards. Beyond business, Cooper has demonstrated lasting civic leadership. He served as the youngest- ever Chair of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, a designated National Monument, and continues to serve as Chair Emeritus.

Jason Foster - President and CEO, Destination Crenshaw

In his role as President and Chief Executive Officer of Destination Crenshaw, Jason is responsible for the nonprofit's administration and operations, the construction of the project’s parks, open space, and infrastructure, and the organization’s finances. He also serves as the organization's point of contact for public agencies and key community partners. Jason holds a B.A. in business administration and finance from Howard University and an MBA from the Metropolitan College of New York. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. (Beta Chapter), a founding member of the Beta Chapter Alumni Association (501(c)3), and the Beta Chapter Investment Club. Jason is also a member of the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board and UniteLA board.

Please join us for our rescheduled module, Developing Metrics for a Shared Strategy, a session we were not able to have in Kansas City due to inclement weather.  

Many discussions about inclusive growth metrics focus on what to measure rather than how to measure. As a result, regions might track the right indicators but not build metrics frameworks that help regional leaders understand where progress is and isn’t being made towards goals and what kinds of investments are needed.  

This session will offer an approach for developing metrics that help multiple organizations pursue a shared strategy and hold one another accountable. 

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Brookings will present new data for each study area on vacancies, surface parking lots, and land ownership. Brookings will also present qualitative findings related to land ownership and underutilized space downtown.

This virtual session aims to:

• Understand the business model and incentive structures that a typical CRE investor/owner with properties downtown are responding to.

• Use data to calibrate baseline assessment and future expectations of study area real estate conditions through comparative analysis of conditions across cities.

• Gain insight into which obstacles, levers, and hands are best paired together in order to achieve CRE movement in the study area.

Local Spotlight: Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC)

Panel Discussants:

Katie Westbrook, Senior Vice President, Development, 3CDC

Katie Westbrook is a homegrown talent at 3CDC from intern to SVP. Her responsibilities include the overall management of the Development team, which includes managing the development staff, project management, underwriting of projects, closing permanent financing for construction, and management of the project team through completion. The Development Team has been involved with more than $2 billion worth of development work since 2003.

Emily Mack, CEO of River City Company

River City Company has played an integral role in the redevelopment and revitalization of Downtown Chattanooga. Created as a private non-profit in 1986 to implement a 20-year twenty-two mile blueprint for Chattanooga's riverfront and downtown development, the non-profit was originally capitalized with $12 million from local foundations and financial institutions. By working with local government, the private sector and the philanthropic sector, River City Company supported and developed specific projects in Downtown Chattanooga as a public purpose development company. 

Pat O’Brien, Milwaukee Development Corporation

The Milwaukee Development Corporation (MDC) is a catalytic community based real estate and business development organization. MDC initially provided private-sector leadership and financial support to revitalize downtown Milwaukee through the backing of 46 leading Milwaukee businesses. Its priority was stabilizing the retail district west of the Milwaukee River. The development focus was a $150 million venture that included the construction of the Hyatt Regency, the Henry Reuss Federal Plaza and the Grand Avenue. Today, MDC continues to initiate and promote projects that support the Milwaukee community. MDC is active in the Pettit Ice Center, 30th St. Industrial Corridor, City of Milwaukee Downtown Stakeholders, Menomonee Valley Partners, and the W. Wisconsin Avenue Task Force.

One powerful way to make jobs better is by turning workers into owners. This is not a new idea, but worker ownership is typically associated with small worker cooperatives. Ownership Works is a nonprofit pioneering a new model that works for large firms and has led to impressive increases in wages, engagement, retention, and other measures of job quality. It's also a model that works for investors, since the productivity gains associated with job quality improvements can more than account for the substantial amount that workers earn through their ownership stake. 

Join us for a conversation with Michael McHugh and Alex Kaufman of Ownership Works to learn more. Our hope is that, regardless of how many companies in your region adopt shared ownership in the near-term, this conversation will give you new insights and evidence to make the business case for investments in job quality and worker empowerment.

For more background, see:

• WSJ story announcing the launch of Ownership Works 

• Ownership works annual report

• 60 Minutes story

• Information on different forms of employee ownership

Please join us for the first peer learning exchange of the ongoing Hyperlocal Solutions in Action Sprint. In this first exchange, Brookings will present hyperlocal crime data for the four region’s downtowns, as well as recent homelessness trends for all eight RIGN members. Brookings will also present qualitative findings related to crime and homelessness from the Sprint fieldwork.

Local Spotlight: Akron and Richmond (more details to follow).

Read Ahead: Brookings will prepare a data memo on crime and homelessness for cohort participants to read in advance of the session. 

Guest Speaker: Matthew Sanscartier, Director of Organizational Informatics & Research, Downtown Community Safety Partnership (DCSP) Winnipeg

Matthew Sanscartier will share insights on lessons learned and scalable strategies from Downtown Community Safety Partnership (DCSP)’s work in enhancing public safety in downtown Winnipeg and beyond. Established in the spring of 2020, DCSP brings together the Province of Manitoba, the City of Winnipeg, the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service, the Winnipeg Police Service, True North Sports + Entertainment, and other public, private, and nonprofit partners to prevent crime, build trust, and improve perceptions of safety downtown. Its three teams, CONNECT, Mobile Assist and Connect (MAC24/7), and Community Outreach Advocacy Resource (COAR), provide 24-hour seven-days-a-week coverage of the downtown area through emergency response, frontline assistance, outreach, and intervention activities. Its Clean Slate program also offers low-barrier employment and workforce development training to young people (ages 19-35) with gang or criminal justice system involvement.

Matthew’s presentation will focus on actionable lessons learned for partnering, funding, and governing comprehensive downtown public safety approaches that focus on building trust, reducing harm, and connecting vulnerable residents to employment and opportunity.  

Please note, all RIGN cohort members are welcome to participate in virtual peer-learning sessions regardless of participation in the sprint. 

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What does it really take to get economic development, workforce development, education actors, and funders to agree on what parts of the economy are worthy of prioritization? 

What does it really take to activate a critical mass of business leaders in these industries so that they embrace a leadership role in defining and solving shared challenges?

This conversation provides useful, concrete guidance for any organization that has struggled to get education and workforce development organizations to focus on the industries that economic development organizations prioritize, or for any organization that has had trouble securing consistent and sustained leadership by business leaders in workforce development efforts. 

Guest Speakers:

• Francie Genz is the co-founder and CEO of the Institute for Networked Communities and a leading expert in regional workforce and economic development strategy and practice.

• Janine Spadafore Kaiser is the founder and Principal of Compass Policy Strategies, LLC (CPS), an independent, woman-owned workforce, education and economic development consultancy based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Moderator: Ryan Donahue, Nonresident Senior Fellow

In this discussion, RIGN network members are encouraged to come and learn about the upcoming network-wide learning sprints related to the future of their downtowns and key neighborhood districts. This session can be seen as a continuation of the conversation started at the RIGN St. Louis Convening and an opportunity to raise key questions and ongoing issues you would like to dig into with the Bass Center Team.

Thank you for joining us!

Passcode for the video recording: 6LU0?nK?

Thank you for joining us for the RIGN Data Profiles webinar.

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Thank you for joining us for the kick-off!