Community-Based Economic Inclusion Project
Client: Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Philadelphia (2020-2021)
Susannah Laramee Kidd, Consultant Team Member
Tile Image Credit: Interface Studio
The project goal was to engage stakeholders in three neighborhoods (Fairhill, Kensington, Eastern North Philadelphia) to establish a shared agenda for inclusive economic development using a community-driven and systems change approach. A team of economic and urban planning consultants gathered data about the neighborhood and local and regional economy (Mass Economics and Interface Studio). The team convened a group of Resident Advisors to guide project priorities, share their local knowledge and engage their neighbors. An advisory committee comprised of community-based organizations also provided guidance and input. The project identified specific opportunities for greater inclusion around good jobs, small business support, and health and wellness.
As a contributor to the consultant team, Laramee Kidd worked with the Resident Advisors, organizational stakeholders and the consultant team to create and refine the research questions that would guide the project and provided a human-centered and creative economy lens to the work of data collection and data analysis. She collaborated with the facilitation consultants (CoRaJus) to design the work of Resident Advisors and organizational stakeholders, rooted in a popular education approach. Laramee Kidd also helped facilitate focus groups around workforce development, small business support, and health. Laramee Kidd reviewed drafts of the final agenda document and provided recommendations for place-based arts and cultural strategies.
This project was part of a pilot initiative implemented in Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Philadelphia between fall 2019 and January 2021. LISC, in collaboration with national and local funders, supported the implementation of community-centered economic inclusion in a select set of underinvested districts in each city. The Brookings Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking documented the process in each community to translate actionable lessons from that work into a strategic action playbook for Community-Centered Economic Inclusion.