While it’s an interesting time to start a new job, I am enthusiastic about my upcoming role as Director of Transportation Equity at the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT). I get to join a talented and innovative team, while working to tackle our work on transportation with a multidisciplinary and equitable focus. I will be jumping right into some important and fascinating projects. With our partners at TransitCenter, I’ll be working with transit agencies and advocates across the... Read the rest of this entry »

Life has turned upside down for families and communities around the world over the past several months. Inequality, poverty, and lack of access to basic needs, which we have long struggled with in our communities, has been made exponentially worse by this global pandemic and its economic fallout. CNT’s staff (working from home) is continuing to help cities solve today’s problems while creating visions for the future of sustainable, equitable communities. It is our hope that when this is all... Read the rest of this entry »

Transit-oriented development (TOD) anchors vibrant communities around transit stops. When homes, offices, retail, and other amenities are located nearby, people can spend less time and money getting to all the places in their daily lives. Equitable transit-oriented development (eTOD) takes this a step further by making sure that the benefits of living and working near transit are available to people of all races and income levels. For the past three years, CNT has been working with Elevated... Read the rest of this entry »

During disasters, we focus on crisis management: treating the sick and providing the basic services we need to survive. Right now, we need support for the frontline public health workers and emergency service providers who are dealing with this crisis firsthand, and economic assistance for the retail and hospitality and service workers who have lost their jobs. We applaud the foundations and individuals who are giving generously to these necessary causes. I am not the first person to note... Read the rest of this entry »

At this year's Transportation Research Board's (TRB) meeting, twelve TRB committees came together to sponsor a session entitled, "Equity Reframed: Looking Back and Planning Ahead." The focus was to review historical milestones and forecast future opportunities to eliminate systemic barriers to full equity by marginalized communities and to provide more equitable access to transportation services. As a speaker, I had the opportunity to share CNT’s perspective.   Our session ... Read the rest of this entry »

On December 10, 2019, CNT’s tech challenge participants presented their final project results. Students from UIC and IIT partnered with three community groups – Austin Coming Together (ACT), Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI), and Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School – to answer one guiding question: Is there a high cost to being poor? To answer this question community groups picked a topic most pressing to their community members. Are absentee landlords a problem in Austin... Read the rest of this entry »

Building on past years’ success, the Young Innovators fifth annual summer fundraiser welcomed a diverse group of participants and experts. We had 40 guests attend a splendid afternoon with the weather on our side as we enjoyed locally- and ethically-sourced treats and insightful conversations. We kicked off the event with an overview of actions planned  by CNT stakeholders for improving current climate and transportation challenges. Special guests included staff from organizations such... Read the rest of this entry »

This July, Elevated Chicago celebrated its second birthday with an event hosted by the Foundation for Homan Square on the top floor of Nichols Tower. Elevated Chicago was initially organized in response to the Strong, Prosperous, And Resilient Communities Challenge (SPARCC), and it uses collaborative, community-led solutions to fight neighborhood displacement and inequities around seven CTA stations. CNT has been part of this collaboration since its birth in 2017. Elevated applies... Read the rest of this entry »

Toward the end of March, CNT presented at Flint’s 3rd annual Environmental Justice and Resiliency summit. The summit featured four days’ worth of panels, interactive sessions, and trainings on topics ranging from trauma-informed art therapy to creating a blue-green economy in Flint. CNT was pleased to share the stage with Amy Hovey of the C.S. Mott Foundation, Leah Wiste of Michigan Interfaith Power and Light, and the City of Flint’s former CFO Hughey Newsome and Water Superintendent Rob... Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, I had a chance to introduce the Center for Neighborhood Technology to two new groups of potential friends and partners. First, we were visited by a group of Google product managers from across the nation. Many of CNT’s online interactive tools are based on Google Maps, and our conversation quickly focused on how we use these tools to identify and address urban issues. We had innumerable questions for each other: how can we partner to better calculate local transportation-related... Read the rest of this entry »