Articles by

Lilly Weinberg

  • Communities and National Initiatives

    Reconnecting communities: Restoring connectivity, economy and vibrancy

    Cities across the United States are transforming urban landscapes once divided by highways, rebuilding communities with innovative revitalization projects and fostering new connections through the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program. In the mid-20th century, the building of highways and freeways in many Knight Foundation communities came at a cost––their construction divided and cut off vibrant urban […]

    Article · November 28, 2023 by , , , , and

  • Communities

    Public Spaces: A platform to connect during COVID-19 and build equitable cities beyond

    On March 24, 2021, Knight Foundation released “Adaptive Public Space: Places for People in the Pandemic and Beyond”, a Knight-commissioned report examining seven public spaces across the U.S. to identify what made them successful and to offer recommendations for developing equitable and inclusive spaces beyond the pandemic. Click here to see the report. Knight’s Lilly […]

    Article · March 24, 2021 by and

  • Communities

    Revitalizing downtowns and neighborhoods: A toolkit for measuring change

    Knight Foundation believes that an equitable and engaged community is one where diverse community members are attached to the place where they live and are invested in their community’s future. And we do this work in 26 cities across the country. One of Knight’s priorities is to accelerate existing momentum to revitalize downtowns and neighborhoods, […]

    Article · August 3, 2020 by and

  • Communities

    Five things we learned from Knight’s inaugural Public Spaces Forum

    Public spaces are essential in any community because they provide the space for residents to gather, play, learn, dream and connect. Knight invests in public spaces and the public life of cities to foster engagement and attachment to place. We believe great public spaces don’t just happen—they require creative leadership and engaged neighbors to plan, design, program […]

    Article · October 29, 2019 by and

  • Communities

    A Polarized Country Still Needs to Eat

    Lilly Weinberg is director for community foundations at Knight Foundation. Below, she highlights a recent report detailing the impact of the Knight-supported On the Table initiative, which brings together community residents over mealtime conversations to discuss pressing community issues.   In a time of growing polarization, when trust in institutions of all kinds has hit all-time lows […]

    Article · November 16, 2018 by

  • Communities

    Four ways cities can make great urban trails: Lessons from the Beltline

    Cities across the country – big and small – are investing in linear parks and urban trails. Communities are prioritizing these important and substantial investments for a variety of important reasons: they effectively connect public assets – like parks and libraries – with diverse neighborhoods; activate underused spaces (think New York City’s High Line crafted […]

    Article · August 24, 2018 by

  • Communities

    Three things community foundations learned from On the Table

    Today, Knight Foundation is announcing a $2 million reinvestment in the On the Table initiative to connect neighbors over mealtime conversations in cities. As a national foundation with deep local roots in 26 Knight cities, we believe informed and engaged communities are the building blocks to a successful democracy. We have seen across our cities the power […]

    Article · February 26, 2018 by

  • Communities

    4 Local funders will use design thinking to fill local news gaps

    We live in a time of disruption for local news and information. Local media continues to shrink, trust in journalistic institutions is at an all-time low, and people can’t even agree on what constitutes a fact.  It’s a difficult time to navigate, especially if you believe like we do that good, accurate and contextual information […]

    Article · August 29, 2017 by

  • Communities

    Three insights on tackling a social change project in your community

    Photo by Lilly Weinberg. Last month, Knight Foundation sent 20 Emerging City Champions from 13 cities to an intensive studio in Toronto hosted by our partner 8 80 Cities to better develop their winning ideas. This is the second year of the program, and I was eager to see how it’s developed, so I went […]

    Article · July 22, 2016 by