Prioritizing Place
A National Forum on Place-Based Initiatives
December 4 – 5, 2014
University of Southern California
The Center on Philanthropy & Public Policy and the Sol Price Center for Social Innovation held a national conversation on the current state of place-based initiatives in December, culminating a year-long inquiry into philanthropic and public sector initiatives that address geographically-concentrated poverty.More than 200 policymakers, foundation executives and thought leaders from across the country came together to analyze these increasingly sophisticated efforts, and provide crucial insights for anyone undertaking or contemplating a place-based initiative. The forum included speakers and plenaries with national experts and opportunities for those participating to engage in lively discussion about what it takes to make a place-based strategy work.
As part of this inquiry, the centers prepared a monograph about place-based work that includes: an important chapter from the Honorable Henry Cisneros; a synthesis of discussions groups with leaders from across the country; a dozen response essays from thought leaders and experts in the field; and some key takeaways as to how to move the field forward.
Click the links below to watch video from the Forum.
“Place-based initiatives can provide a useful framework to judge our progress in raising people out of poverty. They allow us to see whether or not a neighborhood is improving and its residents are living better.”
– Henry Cisneros
MONOGRAPH
PRESS RELEASE
FORUM PROGRAM
THE INQUIRY PROCESS
PROGRAM
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Welcome and Opening Remarks
James M. Ferris, Emery Evans Olson Chair in Nonprofit Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, and Director, The Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy, Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California
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Opening Keynote: From Grassroots to Treetops
Dr. Robert K. Ross, President and CEO, The California Endowment, will discuss how geographically concentrated poverty must be addressed through both local place-based initiatives and complementary policies, and how funders can structure their organizations to operate on these two levels.
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Plenary: Theory
Increasingly, place-based initiatives are not viewed as isolated projects; they are strategically situated or “nested” within public policy or the market economy. This plenary will explore how this enlarged framework has changed the way we carry out place-based work.
- Prudence Brown, Independent Consultant (Facilitator)
- Alan Berube, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings Institution
- Peter Dreier, Dr. E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, Chair, Urban and Environmental Policy Department, Occidental College
- Margery Turner, Senior Vice President for Program Planning and Management, The Urban Institute Concurrent Sessions
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Measuring Opportunity and Mobility
How is data being used to better understand community dynamics? How do communities mix income groups and connect residents to economic opportunities?
- Claudia Coulton, Lillian F. Harris Professor of Urban Research and Social Change, Case Western Reserve University
- Mark Joseph, Director, National Initiative on Mixed-Income Communities, Case Western Reserve University
- Russell Krumnow, Managing Director, Opportunity Nation
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The Role of the Market
As place-based initiatives are situated within larger economies, how are market opportunities being leveraged? How are workforce pipelines tapping labor markets?
- Gary Painter, Director of Graduate Programs in Public Policy, and Director of Research, Lusk Center for Real Estate, Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California
- Manuel Pastor, Professor of Sociology and American Studies and Ethnicity and Director, Program for Environmental and Regional Equity, University of Southern California
- Jim Riccio, Director, Low-Wage Workers and Communities Policy Area, MDRC
- Kim Zeuli, Senior Vice President, Initiative for a Competitive Inner City
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Evaluation in Context
How are place-based initiatives being evaluated in the context of larger forces and long-term change? Can we construct narratives that help us to observe the cumulative effects of efforts over time?
- Jessica Bearman, Principal, Bearman Consulting
- Tom Burns, Managing Director, Urban Ventures Group
- David M. Chavis, Principal Associate and CEO, Community Science
- Pennie Foster-Fishman, Professor, Department of Psychology and Senior Outreach Fellow, University Outreach and Engagement, Michigan State University
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Additional Resources: Building Community Capacity for Participation In Evaluation: Why It Matters And What Works
Additional Resources: Evaluating Community Change: A Framework for Grantmakers
Lunch Keynote: From Neighborhood Initiative to Citywide Policy
John Barros, Chief of Economic Development, City of Boston, will reflect on his role leading the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative and how he is translating that experience into citywide policy.
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Plenary: Practice
Situating place-based initiatives in larger contexts presents operational challenges to practice. How do the philanthropic and public sectors need to work differently? What are the implications for community leaders and organizations?
- Raphael Bostic, Professor, Judith and John Bedrosian Chair in Governance and the Public Enterprise, Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California (Facilitator)
- Denise McGregor Armbrister, Executive Director, Wells Fargo Regional Foundation
- Bart Harvey, Former Chairman, Enterprise Community Partners
- Antonio Manning, Vice President, Office of Corporate Responsibility, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Global Philanthropy
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Rural Communities and Native Reservations
As we’ve moved beyond inner city areas, the field has developed differentiated approaches in different types of communities, including rural areas and Native American reservations. How are these approaches shaped by their locations?
- Doug Easterling, Chair, Social Sciences and Health Policy, Wake Forest School of Medicine
- Peter Pennekamp, Senior Research Fellow, Philanthropy Northwest
- Lisa Richter, Principal, Avivar Capital
- Gladys Washington, Program Director, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation
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Braiding Funding Streams
Making place-based initiatives work today has meant blending, aligning, and “braiding” philanthropic and public funding streams. What collaborative structures and strategies are enabling this to happen?
- David Bley, Director, Pacific Northwest Initiative, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Sheri Brady, Senior Associate for Strategic Partnerships, Aspen Forum for Community Solutions
- Salin Geevarghese, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office for International and Philanthropic Innovation, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Norman Rice, Trustee, Casey Family Programs
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Building Civic Capacity
Connecting place-based initiatives to public policy and the economy requires new capacities from community-based organizations. What kinds of competencies and partnership configurations are being developed?
- Angela Hurlock, Executive Director, Claretian Associates
- Mary Lee, Deputy Director, PolicyLink
- Dixon Slingerland, Executive Director, Youth Policy Institute
- Scot Spencer, Associate Director for Advocacy and Influence, The Annie E. Casey Foundation
- Jennifer Vanica, Partner, VanicaCummings
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Friday, December 5, 2014
Welcome Back, Recap
Elwood Hopkins, Managing Director, Emerging Markets, Inc.
James M. Ferris, Emery Evans Olson Chair in Nonprofit Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, and Director, The Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy, Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California
Breakfast Keynote: A Role for Corporations
Andrew Plepler, Global Corporate Social Responsibility and Consumer Policy Executive at Bank of America, will explore the expanding role of the market in place-based initiatives and the new challenges and opportunities it presents.
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Plenary: Moving Forward: Replication and Scale
In principle, place-based initiatives can achieve scale through replication or incorporation into public policy. What have we learned about the realities of achieving scale? How should we view this challenge moving forward?
- Rip Rapson, President and CEO, The Kresge Foundation (Facilitator)
- Judith Bell, President, PolicyLink
- Casey Johnson, Executive Director, GreenLight Bay Area, GreenLight Fund
- Luke Tate, Senior Policy Advisor, Urban Affairs, Justice & Opportunity, White House Domestic Policy Council
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Plenary: Moving Forward: Some Lessons and Takeaways
What do decision makers who are undertaking place-based initiatives need to know moving forward? Are the goals of these initiatives evolving? What challenges and opportunities lie ahead?
- Rip Rapson, President and CEO, The Kresge Foundation (Facilitator)
- Tonya Allen, President and CEO, The Skillman Foundation
- Xavier de Souza Briggs, Vice President for Economic Opportunity and Assets, Ford Foundation
- Michael Rubinger, President and CEO, LISC
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Lunch Keynote: The Significance of Place-Based Initiatives
Jack H. Knott, Dean, USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, will introduce our final speaker.
Henry Cisneros, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CityView, and former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, will put this convening in historical context, reflecting on the evolution of the field and the future of place-based initiatives in philanthropy and public policy.
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Closing Remarks
James M. Ferris, Emery Evans Olson Chair in Nonprofit Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, and Director, The Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy, Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California
FORUM SPONSORS
This Forum is made possible by the generous sponsorship of:
