To support nonpartisan research, briefings and media engagement on the need for greater technology expertise in Congress and among congressional staff.
Program Area: Communities
To enhance the economic development of the Copley Road Business district through a Better Block activation.
San Jose, Calif.—Jan. 8, 2019— Christopher Thompson, a senior business executive, has joined the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as its San Jose program director. Thompson will help further Knight’s efforts to build a more engaged and people-focused San Jose during a time of intense change in the city and region.
Thompson most recently served as vice president of product marketing at communications technology company Plantronics, where he drove strategies that helped organizations transform their communications and collaboration practices. Prior to joining Plantronics, Thompson held executive positions in business strategy and marketing for major technology companies including Cisco, Network Associates, Nortel and Gartner Group.
“Knight works to bring positive transformation to all the cities where it invests. Chris has the leadership skills and the innovative mindset needed to do just that in San Jose. He’s a longtime resident who understands the city and region, and his strong business expertise will help the city tackle new demands during a period of change and growth,” said Sam Gill, vice president of communities and impact for Knight Foundation.
Knight’s programs in San Jose are primarily focused on promoting a more engaged city, with a focus on public life—drawing people out of their cars and homes and into the community. Knight has invested more than $25 million in San Jose over the past 10 years to advance this mission. The foundation has also been a key player in helping San Jose take the lead in confronting regional challenges for Silicon Valley, including housing, transit and disconnected residents.
“Having worked and lived in and around San Jose for decades, I have seen the best of what Silicon Valley’s culture of innovation can do. I look forward to working side-by-side with local residents, businesses and government partners to put that spirit to work in building a more informed and engaged San Jose, the thriving center of Silicon Valley,” said Thompson.
Thompson has lived in the Bay Area for 26 years; he is a native of Toronto, Canada. He has a Bachelor of Arts in macroeconomics and a Master of Business Administration from McMaster University in Canada. He is a regular speaker on topics such as collaboration technology and business strategy, presenting at prominent events including CEBIT, Cisco Live, Gartner Symposium, Mobile World Congress, Morgan Stanley Global Technology Summit, Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, SXSW and the World Economic Forum.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit kf.org.
Contact:
Anusha Alikhan, Communications Director, Knight Foundation: 305-908-2646, [email protected]
Image (top): San Jose map by Stamen Design, under CC BY 3.0.
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For the balance of The Miami Foundation’s fees for 2018-56176 Miami City of Tomorrow Challenge (COTC) grant.
To support the launch of Talent Scout Miami, a curated platform that helps Miami’s most promising startups recruit the most talented people.
The grant will support conceptual design and planning for three parks in the Akron Parks Challenge and two commercial corridors that are part of the city’s Great Streets initiative, along with additional community design assistance.
The report, “Evolving Arts Ecosystems: A Study of Miami,” assesses how the Miami arts ecosystem has evolved over the last decade.
On Dec. 3, 2018, Knight Foundation announced a $37 million investment in Miami’s growing arts ecosystem. Learn more about the announcement here.
Summary
Knight Foundation believes that the arts play a critical role in connecting people to the places where they live. To concentrate its impact, the foundation has focused its funding in specific communities, including Miami— home to Knight Foundation’s headquarters.
Arts and culture have been a centerpiece of Miami’s transformation for more than a decade. From the Art Basel art fair—a mecca for international curators and collectors—to several new world-class facilities, Miami saw an explosion in artistic, creative and cultural activity since 2005, the period studied in this report.
Knight wanted to better understand how the arts ecosystem in Miami has evolved. The foundation commissioned this study with TDC, a cultural sector research and consulting firm, to determine whether the arts have in fact become more accessible and prevalent in Miami. The review sought to address the following key questions:
- How has Miami’s arts ecosystem (organizations, audiences, funding, creative industries) changed?
- What are the continuing gaps in the system?
- Do the arts in Miami connect people to the community and to each other?
- What has been Knight’s role?
This report provides a snapshot of key indicators reflecting how the arts in Miami have evolved over the past decade. The analysis synthesized several secondary data sources and interviews with key stakeholders in the community.
Key Findings
The report shows that the arts have indeed taken on a larger role in Miami:
The arts have been a driving force in the city’s growing stature: Arts and culture have been a key force in Miami’s ascendance. The arts have been an accelerant of growth, creating a vibrant array of social offerings and professional opportunities in a city that historically lacked them. As summed up by one local leader: “Miami has changed in the last 10 years—feels like a renaissance has taken place. There is so much vibrancy.”
The Miami arts ecosystem has grown more vibrant: The arts have flourished over the past decade with the emergence of new organizations and the maturation of anchor institutions. Total spending among arts organizations increased 168 percent from 2005 to 2015. The investment in the arts has been punctuated by the erection of new buildings by anchor arts institutions, making the changes quite visible. The growing artistic activity and infrastructure have elevated Miami into an internationally recognized cultural center. One leader offered a comment typical among those interviewed: “It’s grown enormously. There are many more organizational players, and anchor organizations have come into their own. Miami feels bigger than it used to be; there is so much more to do here.”
The arts are a critical attractor to Miami: The result has been a more robust arts ecosystem that is attracting people to Miami and keeping them. Arts attendance has steadily risen, and a sentiment has formed that “Arts are part of the attraction of this city as we unfold our second 100 years— it’s a cool place to live.” Furthermore, there is a widely held belief that arts have reversed the exodus of creative talent due to lack of opportunity. As expressed by one key stakeholder: “Many more students are staying than before—no more talking about how ‘I have to go to New York.’ ”
In Miami, Knight has been the foremost private funder of the arts, providing critical capital for both experimentation and the development of core institutions. Local arts leaders view Knight as a strategic, insightful and well-respected partner. One individual noted, “The ecosystem is radically altered from 10 years ago, and I cannot emphasize enough the role Knight has played. They are the foundation.” Said another, “Knight’s work has been transformational—they have succeeded in making art general in Miami.”
But continued progress isn’t assured. The arts in Miami rely on a limited number of funders, and many of the largest arts organizations operate with little to no operating reserves. Several of those interviewed also suggested that rising property values have put artists and arts organizations at risk of displacement. Despite these questions, Miami has seen a clear expansion in the role and scope of its arts and cultural ecosystem.
Download the full report here.
Image (top): A performance of “One Night in Miami” at Miami New Drama. Credit: Stian Roenning.
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- Evolving Arts Ecosystems – A Study of MiamiExternal Content / Website
Charlotte boasts a demographically diverse population, well-educated residents and a thriving economy. Home to the largest population in the state, the Queen City also serves as the economic epicenter of the state. Nevertheless, our community is paradoxical in many ways, with social, economic and political barriers that hinder equitable growth, opportunity and prosperity for those who live here.
Despite the array of sports, hospitality, entertainment and industries that drive the local economy, Charlotte is home to high levels of residential and school segregation that perpetuate a system of uneven distribution of public resources, educational attainment and economic opportunities. Charlotte holds the dubious distinction of being 50 out of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in terms of intergenerational economic mobility.
Our community has been in conversation for years about how these challenges affect us all.
A less-discussed topic within this conversation is how these challenges influence civic life. From October 2016 through June of 2017, a team from the UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute and Johnson C. Smith University used a mixed-methods approach to explore how the local landscape influences civic engagement.
Our research built on user research conducted on a national scale by the Google Civic Innovation Team in 2014. In particular, we sought to further the understanding of a population called “Interested Bystanders,” or people who are paying attention to the issues around them, but not acting on those issues.
The full report goes into further detail of our findings, providing a deep dive into different types of interested bystanders. Some of our key findings are below.
Key findings
- Many people in Charlotte are sitting on the sidelines of civic life. 45% of the Charlotte sample were “Interested Bystanders,” paying attention to local issues but not sharing their opinions or getting locally involved.
- Lack of trust is a major barrier to making civic life more meaningful and inclusive. Although the majority of Interested Bystanders described civic engagement as being actively involved and present in one’s community, there was a large distrust of and lack of attachment to local community and government, which deters engagement. This distrust was especially evident among Latino and Black/African American respondents. Interested Bystanders’ lack of attention to local news also likely contributes to their lack of connection to their community.
- Personal passions can be an on-ramp to civic engagement. Having an interest or passion about an issue or activity was the most common motivator for engagement followed by the political environment. Concern for those closest to them emerged as the base of those motivations.
- Leveraging “civic brokers” could reinvigorate Charlotte civic life. Friends and family are the most influential to Interested Bystanders’ civic participation. Social institutions such as religious organizations, schools, businesses are also viewed as influential. The information and encouragement that Interested Bystanders received online from local institutions and organizations allowed them to take their online actions offline.
What’s Next?
The study concluded over a year ago, but many of our findings are relevant today. Despite high midterm turnout, there is considerable room for further and broader engagement. Three findings of note that our community can leverage now: family and friends are highly influential in engagement; opportunities to engage need to be diverse and considerate of different work schedules, capabilities and personality-types; and people need to understand how their engagement makes a difference.
We also still have a lot of questions. Our study did not have a random sample. As a result, we had more young, female and white participants than what is representative of the Charlotte population. Our research team used focus groups to diversify the sample and elevate a wide range of community voices. However, a more diverse sample is becoming increasingly more important as Charlotte further diversifies and as trust in surveying and government decreases.
In an attempt to correct for these challenges in future research, the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, in partnership with researchers from the university’s Ph.D. in Public Policy Program and the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, has developed YourVoiceCLT, a Charlotte community survey panel.
A community survey panel is a method to administer surveys that overcomes obstacles that today’s surveys confront. By creating a large pool of participants, YourVoiceCLT can use statistical methods to provide high-quality opinion data to help inform community decisions.
The initiative will let city and county residents share their thoughts about topics related to their quality of life and/or respond to issues in the news. YourVoiceCLT seeks volunteers to build a participant pool that represents the full range of households and opinions in Charlotte. Anyone 18 or older living in Mecklenburg County is encouraged to join. More information about the survey panel and how to sign up are online at YourVoiceCLT.org.
Diane Gavarkavich is the Director of Research Services at the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute. Charles Thomas is Director/Charlotte for the Knight Foundation. This study was supported by Knight Foundation and Google.
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A TALE OF TWO CHARLOTTES
Widely regarded as a world-class international city, Charlotte boasts a demographically diverse population, well-educated residents, and a thriving economy that has, in part, stimulated and attracted both domestic and international migration, capital, and acclaim. Home to the largest population in the state, the Queen City also serves as the economic epicenter of the state, touting a robust financial services sector that anchors the global banking industry in the southern United States. Nevertheless, the Queen City is paradoxical in many ways, with social, economic and political impediments that confound equitable growth, opportunity, and prosperity for those that reside within its political jurisdiction.
Notwithstanding the confluence of sports, hospitality, entertainment, and banking industries that drives the local economy, Charlotte is home to exceptionally high levels of racialized residential and school segregation patterns and deeply embedded pockets of concentrated poverty that perpetuates a system of uneven distribution of public resources, educational attainment, and economic opportunities. In fact, Charlotte holds the dubious distinction of 50 out of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in terms of intergenerational social mobility.
Subsequently, pervasive intergenerational social immobility found in Charlotte further problematizes initiatives and policies by philanthropic, civic, and governmental leaders to dismantle barriers impeding access to social capital, economic prosperity, and educational opportunities for marginalized communities.In fact, a report authored by Gene Nichols and Heather Hunt claims that “no issue embodies Charlotte’s increasing problems of polarization and marginalization more explicitly, and more dramatically, than its expanding and heavily racialized concentrated poverty. Charlotte is home, in brief, to both North Carolina’s greatest wealth and economic prowess and its most crushing and expansive deprivation.”
Further compounding the city’s paradoxical social milieu, the officer-involved shootings of African American men, most recently Jonathan Ferrell and KeithLamont Scott, set off a political firestorm that sparked protests, demands for greater police accountability, and surfaced deeply entrenched racial tensions between law enforcement and communities of color.
The confluence of these challenges likely influences who engages in civic life, how they engage, and whether and to what degree their interests are represented.
THE STAGE FOR ENGAGEMENT RESEARCH
Using Charlotte as a case study, this research project seeks to explore how the local landscape influences civic engagement. In particular, the population of interest are those termed “Interested Bystanders” or people who are paying attention to the issues around them, but not acting on those issues. This research builds on user research conducted on a national scale by the Google Civic Innovation Team in 2014.
The research presented herein also considers the behaviors and motivations of Interested Bystanders in Charlotte as well as their informational and social influences and the mechanisms that connect online and offline civic behaviors.
To support the growth of Venture for America’s Miami program, which places top-tier university graduates at high-growth companies for a two-year fellowship, through the hiring of a dedicated executive director.
To spark the development of a Collaborative Journalism Fund dedicated to strengthen the San Francisco Bay Area journalism ecosystem.