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The Makings of a National Place-Based Movement

The research is clear: for too many Americans, zip codes determine destinies. Is there a new movement taking place in community development, philanthropy, and policy that is responding to the overwhelming evidence of the importance of place in fighting poverty? Hear from Geoffrey Canada, Founder and President of the Harlem Children’s Zone; Othello Meadows, Managing Director, Portfolio Strategy & Initiatives at Blue Meridian; Carol Naughton, President and Interim CEO of Purpose Built Communities; and Kwame Owusu-Kesse, CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone who are coming together to answer this question. From the Purpose Built Communities Virtual Annual Conference, November 17, 2020. Watch

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Resilience and Recovery Requires Place-Based Leadership and Change

These Network Members are well-positioned to lead through this crisis because of an ongoing focus on building trust and elevating community leaders. Together, they know the strengths and vulnerabilities of their neighborhoods and residents. Strong relationships and mutual respect are allowing place-based leadership to respond nimbly to the specific and dynamic needs of their community … Continue Reading →

S2 BONUS

S2 BONUS: The Myth of De Facto Segregation

It’s been a convenient diversion from the truth that’s been told since Reconstruction - that the segregation we’ve seen and continue to see in America is just the effects of private individual biases and incidents of discrimination, rather than codified in law. But, when we look at the facts, that myth breaks down pretty quickly with the abundant examples of policies in local, state, and federal government across the country that explicitly discriminated against African Americans.

In this bonus episode, Richard Rothstein and Shirley Franklin, former Executive Board Chair of Purpose Built Communities discuss the history and myth of de facto segregation in America - and what it will take to reverse the toxic effects of that history. Listen

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A Certain Type

Breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty requires a group of people who can work across silos, bring a community together around a shared vision for the future, and do the slow, hard work every day to make that future a reality. Hear more about the type of people the Purpose Built Communities model attracts from Ian Galloway, Director of the Center for Community Development Investments and Regional Manager of Community Development for the State of Oregon. Watch

SEASON 2, EPISODE 7

The Power of Philanthropy

Warren Buffett has been called a wizard, an oracle, a sage - a wise and prophetic investor who knows value when he sees it. In this last episode of Season Two, Warren Buffett sat down with CNBC's Becky Quick in Omaha in 2017 to talk about how America's systems fundamentally misdirect money into the hands of too few to the detriment of the many. He called on philanthropists looking to have the biggest impact for their investments to shed their pretensions and one-upsmanship and look where things are working to attack at the root of the problem. Listen

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SEASON 2, EPISODE 5

Strength Through Diversity

There's an opportunity cost to separating and segregating people: we're not getting the best ideas, the creativity, the innovation out of discriminated communities that can lift up those neighborhoods and our country. Diversity brings out the best in people.

Dr. Katherine Phillips, professor of organizational behavior at Columbia Business School, told Purpose Built Communities' annual conference in Omaha in 2017 that, to understand the value of diversity and use it to learn and innovate more effectively, we need to start by making small changes in ourselves. Listen

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Season 2 Trailer

Season 2 Trailer

Too many communities are failing in America. Millions of people are trapped in poverty, fighting for their American Dream. And racism is at the core of why poverty is concentrated in some neighborhoods and not others, why the American Dream can be out of reach for so many of us. We must attack the underlying discrimination baked into our system throughout America's history to help communities become places where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Listen

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The Importance of Leadership on Multiple Levels

Leadership on multiple levels is core to the success of Purpose Built Communities. As we kick off our celebration of #10YearsOfPurpose, hear what former executive board chair of Purpose Built Communities and former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin believes can happen when visionary thinkers and grassroots advocates come together.

Check out more from Shirley Franklin below. Watch

Season 1, Episode 9

Full Circle

The final episode of Season One tells the story of Jamese Pinkston, who returned to the neighborhood where she was born and raised in Charlotte to help her neighbors have access to the opportunities to succeed and thrive that she was lucky to have. Hear her describe why she has the “best job in the world.” Listen

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Season 1, Episode 8

Walking with a Purpose

America’s demographics will become majority-minority in the coming decades. One neighborhood in Houston shows how to successfully build vibrant communities of diversity - and how to bring all of those different groups together in the wake of a natural disaster. Listen

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