Community Impact – Page 53 – Knight Foundation

Program Area: Community Impact

To support Bartram’s Garden serving as a civic destination for Southwest Philadelphia residents to gather and engage with the reinvestment challenges of their neighborhood and waterfront.

To amplify Knight Foundation’s emerging smart city and community strategy through SXSW’s social media reach.

To connect nonprofits with donated office space in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

The Knight Cities Challenge was an initiative to surface new ideas to advance the success of the cities where the Knight brothers once owned newspapers. From 2014-2017 the challenge awarded nearly $15 million to 99 winners. Although many projects are just getting underway, we’ve already been able to glean many lessons from the ideas and innovators that it surfaced, which will help to shape Knight’s work in communities into the future.

The winners represent a huge variety of projects from musical swings in public spaces to simultaneous shared meals in hundreds of homes, from new zoning overlays to pop-up bike lanes. They are united in that they are all pursuing innovative projects that take them outside their comfort zones in the quest for successful cities.

What can we learn from them? What are the lessons for practitioners that we can take from the winning projects?

The first TreeOpp class, where apprentices learn about the reclaimed wood they’ll be working with. Photo courtesy of Boulder Tree Opp.

Establish clear lines of communication to agree upon outcomes.

While it sounds simple, setting clear and measurable goals is crucial to success – especially on projects with a large and diverse group of partners working together. Boulder’s #TreeOpp project brought together multiple city departments, homeless services provider Bridge House and the local library system. Each partner brought different priorities to the project that were sometimes at odds with each other.

By facilitating communication between partners, testing different approaches and openly sharing successes and failures, the partners were able to settle on realistic shared goals. The program has graduated 20 “Ready to Work” apprentices, diverted more than 5,000 ft. of lumber from the landfill, sold out of all produced merchandise, and brought new attention to BLDG 61 (the library’s makerspace) and the Emerald Ash Borer infestation in Boulder.

Greg Mangan’s Bus Parklet project on Michigan Avenue. (Photo by Stephen McGee)

Stay focused, but also flexible.

In the words of Chad Rochkind from Detroit’s People First Project “be strict about outcomes, but loose about pathways.” Detroit’s Michigan Avenue is an overbuilt nine-lane state highway that discourages public life, even as the street operates well below capacity. The People First Project offered micro-grants to tactical urbanism projects to spark a new conversation between decision-makers about the avenue’s built environment.

The success of any one of the individual projects was not as important as building a sense of momentum and that “something was happening.” Combined, the projects sparked new collaboration between responsible city and federal agencies and now, Michigan Avenue boasts the second-longest protected bike lane in America (the longest on a state right of way), has eliminated two lanes of car traffic, and the neighborhood continues to advocate for café-style sidewalk seating as a further improvement to the street.

Photos by Place Make the Vote

Build a big tent and invite everyone in.

Cities are broad, diverse and complex organisms. To make an impact requires pulling together a constellation of partners with a wide range of connections and expertise.

Case in point: Long Beach’s Place Make the Vote project. To increase civic engagement and voting rates in the 2016 general and primary elections, the design firm City Fabrick tested the impact of familiar placemaking tools such as food trucks, street games, performances, props and even photo booths on voting rates. Organizers brought together local election officials, civic engagement groups and community business and nonprofit alliances to build the project. Election officials ensured that compliance laws were followed and that polling place staffing levels were appropriate while community organizations engaged their constituents and managed the sites on election day. The large coalition meant that more time was spent in advance preparation, but it resulted in impact that an organization working solo couldn’t match.

Ultimately, the six Place Make the Vote voting sites experienced more than a five percent increase in voter turnout relative to the citywide average when comparing the 2008 and 2016 general elections. That’s huge. Now, the LA County Registrar is taking lessons from Place Make the Vote as they roll out early voting sites across Los Angeles.

Don’t forget to tell your story.

When you’re immersed in the day-to-day grind, sharing a compelling story online and in social media often falls to the bottom of the priority list – but it’s hugely important. Transformation is hard. An effective, vibrant communications strategy can make the difference between a successful project and a flop. In Charlotte, the Queen City Quiz Show had a fun and innovative way to provoke dialogue about the city’s challenges and opportunities. The game pits two four-person teams from community organizations against one another in front of a live audience. Promoting the series, which was a completely new concept and unfamiliar to Queen City residents, was an exercise in testing assumptions. Organizers had to adapt their message, medium and messengers to achieve success and participation.

Season one of Queen City Quiz Show featured 15 shows with hundreds of attendees and reignited a spirit of civic conversation in the Queen City. The format has been incorporated into monthly segments on “Good Day Charlotte” on the local FOX affiliate as well as the Creative Morning event series. Organizers expect further growth in season two. A toolkit and guide to producing your own events is coming out soon.

To develop a bicycle network strategy for Akron through the delivery of an implementation strategy, policy recommendations and a final report for public release by creating opportunities for partnership with 8-80 cities, the Summit Cycling Center and City of Akron residents.

Lisa King is executive director for Summit Metro Parks in Akron, Ohio. Knight Foundation recently announced new funding to Summit Metro Parks, focused on connecting Akron’s downtown revival to neighborhoods across the city. 

There is a palpable buzz in Akron– the kind that signals exciting things to come. You can feel it within our growing arts community, in mounting activity in downtown and the groundswell of technology startups. 

Admist this rising tide, parks are playing an essential role in providing gathering spaces where everyone is welcome. Their role in connecting people to the city and each other is vital to continuing the energy for new ideas, collaboration and investment in Akron. 

At Summit Metro Parks, we are working to build authentic relationships with residents and engage them in shaping our public spaces. In particular, we see many opportunities to connect Akron’s neighborhoods to the new energy we are seeing in the downtown core. 

While working on the Reimagining Civic Commons project in Summit Lake, a national initiative that leverages public spaces to promote inclusion and foster connected communities, we preformed an experiment in co-creation. We listened to and learned about the area from the people who live there, and, together, we built programs that met their needs. This direct engagement led to the development of a pop-up nature center with programs for all ages. In just three months, we began seeing the impact of our presence. Programs like Zumba, canning, poetry writing, hiking, painting, sketching and a nature club, saw ever-increasing attendance. 

This temporary experiment brought to light a demand for more programs that connect the community across backgrounds and experiences. Building on this lesson, Summit Metro Parks is embarking on a plan to transform two Akron public spaces  –the pump house at Summit Lake, and the historic barn at the former Valley View Golf Course in Cascade Valley Metro Park–  into permanent community hubs. 

With the city’s help, we plan to take possession of the pump house and transform it into an outreach center in collaboration with residents. The project will be supported by existing partnerships with local groups like Let’s Grow Akron, Students with A Goal (SWAG) and Summit Lake Build Corp. 

The Cascade Valley Metro Park barn, built in the late 1800s, is adjacent to the North Hill neighborhood, a resettlement area for Akron’s refugee community. We have previously worked with these new entrants to Akron to translate park information (e.g., rules, fishing guidelines) into their native languages and introduce translation services. We also installed a cricket field so our neighbors from Bhutan could continue playing a sport from their homeland. Building on these initiatives, the barn holds great potential for serving this population, and providing a space for them to gather and connect with the wider community.

Creating connected, vibrant public spaces in Akron is central to the city’s success. They serve as beacons for economic activity and meeting grounds for the artists, innovators and emerging talent who can help to attract new opportunities and investment to the city. Through these projects, we hope to add to the momentum for growth in Akron, and provide new avenues for all Akronites to help shape their community.

AKRON, Ohio – Jan. 9, 2018 – To improve neighborhood life and support Akron’s future growth, Summit Metro Parks today announced $785,000 in new support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The funding will go to projects focused on transforming two parks near downtown Akron: $600,000 to develop the pump house at Summit Lake, and $185,000 to repurpose the historic barn at the former Valley View Golf Course, which is now part of Cascade Valley Metro Park. 

“Engaging people in creating the places where they want to live, work and play is vital. Downtown Akron is gaining steam, and this effort will help connect more neighborhoods to this revival,” said Kyle Kutuchief, Knight Foundation program director for Akron.

“Parks are for everyone, and every neighborhood needs places for residents to meet and connect. With this support, Summit Metro Parks can ensure that every part of the county – including Akron – has public spaces they deserve,” said Lisa King, executive director of the park district.

Summit Metro Parks will work to build connections between these neighborhoods and downtown, building on efforts by the City of Akron to prioritize these two neighborhoods for development. 

Metro Parks will work directly with neighborhood residents to design and program the sites. The projects will aim to ensure that the city’s growing network of public spaces is design by and for all Akronites, and that the city’s revival is shared across allneighborhoods, including with residents in public housing near Summit Lake and the immigrant population in North Hill close to Cascade Valley.  

Summit Lake

Last year, Summit Metro Parks created a pop-up nature center at Summit Lake inside the Reach Opportunity Center (390 W. Crosier St., Akron). A part of the city’s Reimagining the Civic Commons project, a national initiative supported by Knight Foundation and other funders, the nature center was recognized as the top environmental and interpretive program in Ohio by the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association.

King said the pump house – where water was pumped to cool equipment for local industries in the mid-20th century – will eventually become the permanent home for educational and recreational programs like the ones the park district first introduced at Summit Lake in 2017. She added that the future outreach center at the pump house could also include meeting space for community organizations and serve as a reading center, arts center and more.

Before it was home to amusement parks in the early 1900s, Summit Lake was located along a transportation route for Native Americans, and later canal boats. It was a onetime source of Akron’s drinking water, but pollution from local industries affected the economics of nearby neighborhoods, and use of the lake was discouraged.

King said Summit Metro Parks is thrilled to be part of the area’s revival and to support residents.

Valley View

The Valley View Area is a 194-acre property that connects Cascade Valley and Gorge Metro Park in Cuyahoga Falls with Sand Run Metro Park in Akron. Its purchase in 2016 formed the second largest natural area managed by Summit Metro Parks, at just under 1,700 acres, and offers new ways to access the Cuyahoga River and the multipurpose Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail, both of which are near the property’s western boundary.

Before it was a golf course, Valley View was a farm from the 1880s until the 1950s. It has been described as the last dairy farm in Akron. The barn was retained during construction of the golf course and became the clubhouse. Summit Metro Parks has identified the historic structure as a place worth restoring. The park will include opportunities for hiking, biking, kayaking and more.

The barn will be used as a welcome and nature center to introduce inner-city youth, immigrants and others to nature and help to create the next generation of park users, King said. Already, Cascade Valley Metro Park sees countless visitors from North Hill, Akron’s “melting pot.” The neighborhood includes immigrants and refugees from countries like Bhutan, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Syria and Iraq.

Though the district doesn’t have a timeline for the opening of the pump house and Valley View Area barn, King said both facilities will allow Summit Metro Parks to further improve its outreach efforts as the organization nears its 100th anniversary in 2021.

Support for this project forms part of Knight Foundation’s efforts to leverage public spaces and civic assets such as parks, recreation centers, libraries and more to promote inclusion and foster vibrant, connected communities. Knight has made several investments in this area including the national $40 million Reimagining the Civic Commons initiative, which includes Akron as one of five U.S. demonstration cities.

About Summit Metro Parks

Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, Summit Metro Parks conserves, sustainably manages and values natural resources for the health and enjoyment of the community, and inspires people to connect with nature through clean and safe parks. Resources include 14,300 acres, 16 parks and more than 125 miles of trails, with 22.4 miles of the popular Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. Annual attendance averages 5 million visits.

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.

CONTACTS:

Nathan Eppink, Chief of Community Engagement, Summit Metro Parks, 330-865-8040 x215, [email protected]

Anusha Alikhan, Director of Communications, Knight Foundation, 305-908-2646, [email protected]

To improve Reading Terminal Market’s Filbert Street corridor so that it serves as a more usable public space.

Charlotte Castle is the Vision Zero and neighborhood programs coordinator for the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation & Infrastructure Systems (OTIS). Below she writes about an October 2017 initiative launched by Knight Foundation and Niantic, the creators of Pokémon GO, to explore how technology can foster community engagement in several cities where Knight invests.

Last fall, the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation & Infrastructure Systems teamed up with Knight Foundation and Niantic, maker of Pokémon GO, to bring the popular mobile game to the city’s second Philly Free Streets program. Philly Free Streets is a people-powered initiative that temporarily closes streets to cars, inviting people to walk, bike and play. From Philadelphia’s Historic District to the heart of Latino Philadelphia, the 2017 Philly Free Streets event connected several diverse neighborhoods with rich histories and cultural traditions. By integrating Pokémon GO into the 2017 Philly Free Streets program, we used technology to further encourage participants to explore the history and culture of each unique neighborhood.

As part of Philly Free Streets community planning, we invited neighbors to identify historical, cultural or community sites along the car-free route to serve as Pokéstops. We were looking to highlight the ways in which our city’s rich past has been folded into contemporary life in the Historic District, beyond the existing historical markers. In addition, it was an opportunity for residents in the diverse neighborhoods along the route to share their stories.

Players participated in a scavenger hunt to engage with stops along the route. To bridge any digital or language barriers, Philly Free Streets developed opportunities to participate in both English and Spanish. Those who visited each of the Pokéstops and explored the full-length route earned a Pokémon GO poster – and, even better, the satisfaction of exploring multiple Philadelphia neighborhoods.

Through this pilot, Philly Free Streets learned valuable lessons that may be helpful to other cities and communities as they consider experiments of their own:

  • Inviting community involvement advances inclusion and engagement. The Pokémon GO pilot required community involvement; we didn’t feel we could identify Pokéstops without community input. By inviting neighbors to participate in the programming planning, conversations were struck up about the rich history of, sometimes, seemingly ordinary places, and relationships were fostered.
  • Cities can adapt existing initiatives to keep pace with today’s technology. By integrating popular technology into existing programs – such as open streets events – cities are poised to grow their audience of engaged citizens. However, they should be mindful of the people who may have limited access to technology. A balance can be achieved, if you are strategic!
  • Local government should embrace experimentation. The future success of cities hinges on our willingness to adapt and embrace change. While it can be challenging to integrate of experimentation into an existing program, the lessons learned and relationships built make it worth it!

These discoveries, combined with other lessons learned, give us food for thought as we reflect on the 2017 Philly Free Streets program, and consider future planning and civic engagement efforts. One thing is certain: With over 10,000 Pokémon GO participants in the 2017 program, there is a clear demand for partnerships that embrace innovation and cater to changing community preferences.

To support safe and vibrant neighborhoods by convening community members to resolve problem properties which degrade neighborhood safety.

MIAMI – Jan. 4, 2018 – Raul Moas will join the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation as its Miami program director, effective March 1.

Knight’s programs in Miami are primarily focused on creating a strong entrepreneurial economic base in the region and in the arts. Moas, an investment professional and social innovator, will be responsible for the economic and innovation initiatives. 

Moas served as the managing director of AGP Miami, an angel investor network that brings together early-stage investors to support South Florida’s most promising tech startups. In that role, he created programs and partnerships to broaden the pool of investors in the city’s early-stage startups. In the last four years, AGP has grown to nearly 100 active investors and made more than 24 investments in South Florida companies totaling more than $7 million.

Prior to joining AGP, Moas served as executive director for Roots of Hope, an international nongovernmental organization focused on youth empowerment in Cuba. At Roots of Hope, Moas led the creation of programs like StartUp Cuba, which supports emerging entrepreneurs from the island in gaining practical skills, and social ventures like Discover Cuba, which has facilitated hundreds of socially conscious trips and family reunifications.

A Miami native, Moas is passionate about Miami and deeply involved in making his community a better place. As a member of the Global Shapers Miami Hub, the young professional arm of the World Economic Forum, Moas focuses on promoting equitable development in Miami. Moas is also a member of Class VIII of The Miami Foundation’s Miami Fellows program.

“Raul has a strong track record supporting Miami’s innovators. His insight and commitment to this city will enable Knight Foundation to continue to invest in the people connecting and empowering the city’s burgeoning entrepreneurial community,” said Sam Gill, Knight Foundation vice president for communities and impact.

“As a Miami native, I am especially thrilled to be joining Knight Foundation in realizing our city’s potential to be aglobal hub where exceptional people and ideas thrive,” said Moas. “We are a complex and dynamic community, full ofincredible entrepreneurs, artists and civic leaders, who are all eager to build a better Miami. I look forward to advancing this goal together.”

Moas previously served as a tax associate at global consulting firm EY’s Miami office where he focused on international tax planning and transfer pricing. He earned a Master of Science in taxation and a Bachelor of Business Administration at the University of Miami, and is a licensed CPA in Florida.

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.

Contact: Anusha Alikhan, Director of Communications, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 305-908-2646, [email protected]