Florida East Coast Realty, LLC’s Post

This really fines me hope for the future. Is it replicable? I have hope for that. What lessons were learned? People seem genuinely proud and happy in this picture. Can we get more of that? In defense of saving them but also to reinforce a process that includes the people — not THEIR people — in the decision-making and research process. Objective, third-party analysis on all the impacts. To all the people who care profoundly about their communities. Do you think we can model for a New and Improved Chicago Way? We really need it. For ALL the people. Help us, Brandon Johnson , you are one of many hopes. We just hope you can get on board. Reaching agreement is not easy when all kinds of groups within one community haven’t talked in years or decades. And we are well-trained to respond to fear and desperation messages. We get those from enough source. And we are well-trained to give up when money and power — and only money and power talk. That’s messed up.

Anyone else see what happened with the Nathaniel Russell House (in Charleston, SC) as an example of a non-profit trying to do the right thing: divest itself from a forced labor camp that the most vocal members of the public valued for its “beauty” and ostentatiousness so that it could focus on affordable housing? By extension, this altered direction would have explored ways in which historic preservation could do a better job benefitting the African American community in Charleston. (And, gasp, focus on more vernacular and visually plain sites.) The way in which the Historic Charleston Foundation backtracked strikes me as kowtowing to a particular segment of the public who treats the built environment as a box of jewels with a thin veneer of white patriotism. I do not envy the HCF board. This is just a microcosm of why historic preservation is often better at preserving itself, as an archaic, and, at times, racist practice, than in preserving the built environment for the benefit of the broader public. The field is too often frozen in its own past.

The power of collaboration of between American Leadership Forum senior fellows: In a heartening display of community spirit, Habitat for Humanity Merced/Stanislaus Counties (senior fellows Anita Hellam & Ashlee Williams) has partnered with PG&E Corporation Foundation (senior fellow Michael Gaffney), Calvary Assembly of God Church, and local organizations to address the housing crisis following the severe storms and flooding that ravaged Merced and Stanislaus counties earlier this year. Habitat for Humanity Merced/Stanislaus Counties CEO Anita Hellam emphasized the devastation in various regions, with many survivors still residing in damaged structures or transitional housing. To support the long-term volunteers working on reconstruction projects, a unique collaboration emerged between Habitat for Humanity and the Calvary Assembly of God Church, led by Pastor Juan Ochoa. A grant from PG&E Corporation Foundation has made it possible to renovate a church-owned property in Merced, transforming it into temporary housing for volunteers. Michael Gaffney, Division Operations Representative of PG&E's Central Valley Region, celebrated the partnership and its reflection of shared values in fostering compassionate, resilient communities. This remarkable joint effort also includes contributions from Habitat for Humanity California, Habitat for Humanity International, First 5 of Merced County, and donations of materials and supplies to the Habitat ReStore. The project aims to provide a comfortable living space for dedicated volunteers traveling from across the nation to assist in rebuilding efforts over the next three years. #ALFseniorfellow #americanleadershipforum #collaboration #community

Woodards Real Estate is in good hands.

With ONE WEEK left to submit your #WMA2024 proposal, consider the many ways balance and restoration work can happen in your museum. Read the below piece for inspiration!

Delivering a Heritage Regeneration Project I was on the expert panel alongside Eleanor Clarke of Focus Consultants to take questions and offer our experience in Delivering a Heritage Regeneration Project. Some great questions and discussion, thanks Heritage Trust Network for organising the day. My top 5 tips - 1. Plan it Right. Allow time and budget for designing your project to ensure it's practical, affordable and legal! A well planned project will mean you can get the right team in place to deliver it to the right standards, with fewer hiccups along the way. 2. Include the right people. Get your consultants on board, get your QS talking to the Contractor, invite the Conservation Officer to visit and include the community and key stakeholders from the get go. And of course, employ a skilled company like Cliveden Conservation to deliver the works. 3. Include Training as part of the project. Allow time and budget to include trainees, improvers, apprentices, interns... however you want to do it. But for training to be successful it helps to build it into the procurement stage and think long term. If you don't we will lose the skills we need for future projects. 4. Get your messaging right. There will be many voices - questioning, supporting, challenging, interpreting. Make sure that the delivery team are aligned on what you are saying, why you are doing the work, who is funding it, what it is and when it will happen. Good messaging helps funding, brings people along with you and eases progress for the duration. It also helps share success stories for the wider industry. 5. Maintenance. Heritage projects don't just stop at practical completion. Build in regular maintenance works and once its all calmed down produce a Conservation Management Plan to ensure that all the disruption you caused was worth it and all the great work you have just shelled out for will survive for decades to come. Get in touch to discuss your upcoming projects!

📣 Introducing Otley Common... This is a story about our towns, our streets, our buildings and our community. The spaces and places we all share, should share and need to share. They lead us to a deeper sense of place and connect us to each other. COMMON places that we can meet, learn, teach, work and enjoy. Places that make us feel proud. Places that speak to us, that we have helped create, we can have a stake in, that we build for the COMMON good. To create a new history – reinvented, renovated and reimagined. What our old COMMON buildings can be. These buildings were never constructed to serve the few, they were created in eras of civic pride, constructed for the common person. This is our collective commission – to become custodians of the building, to give it a new purpose, a new lease of life and meaning for the future and value to our town and all of us that live here. An open building that becomes a beacon, an inviting place for us all to use, to communicate, to comment. A place that combines the wealth of a community, its people, its resources and its spirit. Created from a cooperative approach and a true sense of duty. The building will be a place we all have in COMMON.  Find out how you can donate, invest, support and get involved in our plans to purchase and transform Otley Methodist Church at https://lnkd.in/e5_4S64k

Diving into Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO)'s new strategic plan. Here's one spot to linger: "#Grantmakers in the GEO community advance responsive and equitable practices such as providing long-term, flexible support to communities harmed by intersecting systems of oppression; centering community and shifting power in their #grantmaking, capacity building, learning, and evaluation; and fostering equity in internal operations." #philanthropy #FunderListening

Stanford Social Innovation Review #January30, #author #ClaireDunning #Segregation #Helped #Build #Fortunes. #What #Does #Philanthropy #Owe #Now? "#Understanding the #historical #roots #of #many #foundation #endowments is a critical step in considering the question of #philanthropic #reparations."

Beth Chandler has made an indelible mark on our city. I’ve had the honor of serving on the Board of YW Boston since 2018. That was the year that Beth began her leadership as President & CEO of this crucial Boston organization. In 2020, I became the Board Chair, which gave me the opportunity to work more closely with Beth. Beth is stepping down this summer, after 12 years with YW Boston and six as its head. With her guidance and advocacy, YW Boston has made Boston a more equitable place for the benefit of all residents, in particular women of color. Beth stewarded the non-profit through historic challenges, from a complex strategic planning process to navigating the pandemic to selling the landmark Back Bay building. She also seeded the growth of diversity and inclusion throughout our institutions.  I’ve learned a lot from Beth over the years. From her strength—she’s very direct, and stands up for what she believes to be right. From her willingness to listen to different opinions and perspectives, and change her mind. And I particularly appreciate her combination of vision and strategy. Anyone who wants to make transformative change in their organizations can learn lessons from her tenure. When she led us in a deep probe into the meaning of our mission, she helped us focus on who our beneficiaries really are: not just the clients we consulted or the participants in the program, but the colleagues and clients of those people. She saw how YW Boston was a catalyst, inspiring and supporting people to be change agents in their own organizations. I vividly remember when the Board was discussing a tough decision. We’d been losing money on a volunteer-facilitated service. She wanted to hire staff to deliver it more effectively and charge a fee. We were anxious about the risk of hiring people with a budget deficit. Beth presented the alternatives clearly: we could gradually bleed out over time, or we could take this risk and build toward a sustainable model. She recognized it was the time for bold moves. We agreed. And when the demand for DEI services exploded, we had the people we needed and we were well positioned to provide the services. She also knew that boldness isn’t always about expansion. When I joined the board, YW Boston had 10 or 12 programs—we were spread a little thin. Beth and the leadership team honed the portfolio basically to three: Inclusion Boston, LeadBoston, and FYRE. These, along with advocacy campaigns like parity on boards and United Against Racism, share a theory of change: they build a group of people who have a real deep understanding of equity and inclusion, so that they can go back to their organizations and create change.  That vision has helped create a better climate for everyone. I give Beth my gratitude and my personal admiration, for all that she’s done—for YW Boston, for so many organizations that have worked with us, and for the City of Boston. Thank you, Beth. https://wix.to/Rmy6E0N