Lessons Learned from Lawndale

Before I started Nonprofit Utopia, LLC, I was very engaged in North Lawndale, the Chicago community in which I was born and raised.

As Co-Founder of the Lawndale Alliance, I worked with my neighbors to advocate for tax increment financing district (TIF) policies that would make the program more transparent and be of better benefit to local residents, whose property taxes financed TIF projects.  One of our greatest victories was getting the City of Chicago to remove more than 300 units of occupied housing from the list of properties that could potentially be displaced as a result of implementing the TIF program. This was unheard-of at the time.

Join me as I share some of the lessons we learned over the years, including what to do and what not to do in order to create win-win situations for all parties.

Call in live at (347) 884-8121 to join the conversation. You don't need an account to listen. You can also participate in the live chat.  Archived episodes may be found at iTunes, Podcast Chart, Blubrry and Stitcher.