Keeping equity and our mission at the center
LIFT JAX has been working behind the scenes for months as we have been in the planning for implementation of the Purpose Built Communities model Out East. We’ve covered a lot of ground — analyzing data, getting to know community leaders, figuring out our strategies. But there’s something about launching our website that gives us a chance to reflect on who we really are and what we want to share with the world. There’s much more to come in that regard, but what seems right at this moment is to share some of our group’s takeaways from the very first Purpose Built Communities annual conference we attended in late 2019. Although a few months have passed, our takeaways remain as relevant as ever.
Jacksonville's Takeaways from the Purpose Built Communities Conference
1. Community Driven: Nearly every presenter spoke about the importance of having this work be driven by community. It is critical to the work’s success. Presenters also noted how it can be challenging to achieve this. It can take time to effectively position residents as drivers and co-equal partners in this work, building trust along the way. There are also power dynamics that we need to attend to, especially when it comes to bringing significant financial resources to bear. As one presenter put it, “resources are a big part of this work, but they can’t dominate.” Patience and persistence to achieve authentic community leadership are imperative. As someone shared, “if you’re going to sustain this work, you need community at the table.”
2. Proximity and Understanding: The highlight speaker of the event was Bryan Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. He laid out four elements for success in this work: proximity, changing narratives, being hopeful, and committing to doing things that are uncomfortable and inconvenient. All were compelling, but particularly striking was his message about proximity. In order to do this work effectively, you need to spend time with people on the margins. In his words, we need to “wrap our arms around them and affirm their humanity.” This work cannot be done at arm’s length.
3. Racial Equity: There a theme throughout so many of the presentations of racial equity. Richard Rothstein, historian and author of The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, shared his findings about historical government policies that have contributed to segregation in modern day U.S. cities, leading directly to what we now experience as disinvestment and blight in neighborhoods that are majority African-American. There is a strong commitment among all Purpose Built projects to use this neighborhood revitalization work as one tool to remedy those past wrongs.
4. Centering the Mission: When the work starts moving in earnest, several presenters stated the importance of constantly reminding themselves of the mission and who they are intending to benefit through the work. As one presenter shared, “We need to do development in a way such that people in community are beneficiaries of the development.” This may seem self-evident, but we were cautioned that plenty of partnerships and opportunities may present themselves over time, and not all will necessarily benefit those living in the community. It is the role of the Community Quarterback to keep the work focused on residents.
5. Partnership and Collaboration: Given the holistic nature of the work, no single entity can do this alone. It requires bringing all sectors together to achieve the mission, even those that have not traditionally worked together in the past. These include residents, the business community, philanthropy, government, and nonprofits. As one project leader shared, they think of their investments as the “Three P’s: People, Place, and Partnerships.”
Let us know what you think by dropping us a note at our contact page or by sending an email to david@liftjax.org. We’re just getting started on our journey, and we’d love to hear from you!