2. http://www.frbsf.org/community-development/about/
Foster economic growth and financial stability
for LMI communities and households
Increase investments and improve access to
capital and credit in low- and moderate-income
communities
Strategic focus areas
1. Place
2. People
3. Small Business
4. Field Building
3. Economic and social inequality is a complex
problem
Communities are a multifaceted ecosystem
5 core principles
› Common Agenda
› Shared Measurement
› Mutually Reinforcing Activities
› Continuous Communication
› Backbone Support
http://www.ssireview.org/articles/entry/collective_impact
4. Provides jobs for local residents and other
entrepreneurs; complements sector based
workforce development and job training
efforts
Allows money to recirculate in the
community and reduces capital leakage2
Creates a sense of community and
catalyzes broader improvements1
1. Reid, Carolina. “The Corner Store: Investing in a Sense of Place.” Community Investments, Spring 2006;
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
2. http://www.yesmagazine.org/commonomics/welcome-to-commonomics-how-to-build-local-economies-strong-
enough-for-everyone
5. Community
Champion
Investment
Business
development
organizations
Local
Property
owners
government
resources/
support
Businesses
/anchors
Residents/
patrons
Local
makers/
growers/
artists
Very pleased to welcome you here today. Regional Manager for Northern CA. In this role I, Work with a broad range of partners and stakeholders to develop strategies for neighborhood revitalization and programs that improve financial well being among low- and moderate-income families. It is great to see many familiar faces but lots of new faces as well.
Today we will be focusing on creating a collective action framework for revitalizing commercial corridors. I have spent the last two years researching this topic and learning about the breadth of work that is already being done across the country to help restore economic vibrancy to distressed communities and I am excited that you are here today. I am looking forward to seeing what this forum sparks for all of you and for the communities that you work in and on behalf of so thank you for being a part of it.
The Federal Reserve Bank of SF is on social media
Today’s topic is an intersection of all four strategic focus areas.
Prosperity and opportunity are unequally distributed in America AND that communities with significant populations of low-income residents in particular suffer as a result of lack of economic opportunity. This sad reality shows up as blight and a dearth of community based amenities that include essential services, restaurants, grocery stores, retail outlets, public spaces, etc. reinforce the lack of opportunity that low-income communities face.
Today’s conversation brings all of these areas together so that we talk about employment opportunities, workforce development, business creation or attraction and access to capital as related activities. Today I want to talk about these things in the context of place and more specifically in the context of economically distressed communities.
The field building piece is about collective action
Collective action AKA collective impact is an increasingly popular practice that is being applied to complex social problems. Stanford Social Innovation Review
More than just collaboration; it’s an intentional and focused approach to tackling a complex problem with various interest groups.
Collective Action is a model that brings together disparate stakeholders around a shared vision for change. Collective Action centers on creating common agenda so that all participants have a shared understanding of a problem that will result in a unified approach to solving it through mutually reinforcing activities;
The goal of CA is Silo busting that will result in a Coordination of resources and alignment of priorities to achieve desired outcomes and sustainable results when dealing with complex problems….in this case addressing social and economic inequality.
In this case, the goal is to solve for socioeconomic consequences of disinvestment and market failures of capitalism.
Backbone support is the management of the collective action by a separate organization that can collect data, coordinate participation of the different partners and troubleshoot challenges as they come up
Today I want to explore how collective action can be used in the context of commercial corridor revitalization
No strategy is perfect when you are talking about such a complex problem as lack of opportunity. There are many possible strategies to address economic and social inequality. CCR is just one that offers numerous benefits. With the right business mix and other tools, commercial corridors can be a viable strategy for tackling disinvestment, unemployment, and economic inequality.
1) In the most economically marginalized communities, barriers to employment are significant. Unemployment averages more than twice the level of state numbers in low-income communities. We must find a way to reduce unemployment in these communities. Oh and BTW, there is a clear link between economic opportunity and better health
2) We must also find a way to foster economic growth from within and redirect demand to local business rather than just corporate entities that extract more than they reinvest.
3) We know that money is attracted to money. So the communities that are the worse off, cannot wait for someone else to intervene and rescue them. One or two businesses can become the catalyst for broader improvements and attract more investment.
I hope that today’s meeting will attract new resources, partners and investments to support commercial corridor revitalization.
Do you see yourself represented among this constellation of stakeholders???
Community champion could be a structured institution such as a BID or a membership organization such as a chamber of commerce or even a neighborhood association
Local government includes the city council representative, the mayor, the economic development office, the police, sanitation, etc.
Residents and patrons are probably the most critical and challenging component of this constellation. How do you communicate the value of investing their resources with local businesses
All of our speakers today will talk about how many of these stakeholders they are currently working with….how that relationship evolved…and the value that each brings. And while they may enjoy success in networking and collaboration, what if they took it to the next step and decided to work towards a common goal?
It is a great resource and inspiration for anyone who is thinking about the vital role that neighborhood commercial districts can play in community building and creating a vibrant local economy.
___________________
Remarks after the video. In the past, this was the norm. Even the most segregated and working class neighborhoods had some version of this. A place for people to stroll and shop, feel a sense of belonging and an economic stake in that place. This is my wish is for every community and the focus of our discussion for today.
Today’s meeting is made possible by the amazing line-up of speakers today who are on the ground experts and practitioners. We are very fortunate to have such a breath of innovation and talent right here in northern CA and specifically the Bay Area. It was impossible to include everyone on the panels today, but certainly all of you have something to contribute to this conversation. So, I encourage you to chime in and add your perspective.
I hope that you will learn lots of new things and if you don’t have anything to learn, then teach and share.
Now it is my pleasure to introduce our first presenter, Marsha Murrington, from Bay Area LISC. She will be joined by Jorge Rivas to discuss the amazing work that they have done across a number of neighborhoods in San Francisco.