Power Station

Terry Ao Minnis and Angela Manso joined me for a conversation about Census 2020 at Power Station. As you will hear, the stakes for the Census could not be higher. The Census determines the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives and the allocation of federal dollars to states. And it is an inventory of who lives in this country, vital information for building a just society. It is i...

The Congressional Black Caucus, known as the conscience of Congress, has been an unabashed advocate for communities of color since its founding in 1971. As executive director of the CBC, Fabrice Coles serves 48 members, including the Chairman, Cedric Richmond, Congressman from Louisiana's 2nd District. His work informs the CBC's on-the-record responses to the issues of the day, including the curre...

When Carmen Huertas-Noble was a law student she expected a future in public interest law but she did not expect to excel in contracts. Now a tenured professor at the City University School of Law and Director of the Community and Economic Development Clinic, Carmen uses her business acumen to help workers, often in low-wage industries, to develop worker owned cooperatives. This growing movement to...

Ron Hantz is back! Our first Power Station guest returns with updates about the Network for Developing Conscious Communities, and the role of intentionality in community development planning and implementation. Ron reports on an NDCC Conference, held last May in Baltimore, that was rooted in the idea that community development requires not just bricks and mortar and access to capital. It requires...

Janis Bowdler's road to the JPMorgan Chase Foundation started with a personal realization. As a child, she saw that her neighborhood did not have the same resources as others and she was determined to change that paradigm. As Policy Director at National Council of La Raza, now UnidosUS, Janis worked with member organizations whose zip codes have been considered pre-determinants for a lack of acces...

Glenn Cantave, founder of Movers and Shakers NYC, uses virtual reality, augmented reality and performance art to reframe and reclaim the narratives of marginalized communities. His use of technology to inform and provoke conversation is more than innovation; it is revolutionizing how the nonprofit sector engages communities and advocates for policy change. Glenn and his creative cohort at Movers a...

Jeremie Greer, VP, Policy and Research, at Prosperity Now, is clear and uncompromising about the state of our nation. He underscores  that poverty cannot be overcome by individual will alone. Poverty alleviation requires systemic change, which Prosperity Now's Network of Champions is advancing. These are  community-based nonprofits that advocate for reform using original research, data and on-the-...

Haley Griffin guides nonprofit staff and boards of directors through the always challenging process of strategic planning. A Principal in The Raben Group, a leading DC-based national public affairs and strategic communications firm, Haley brings deep experience in organizational development to each interaction with her nonprofit clients. Luckily for them, she also brings rigor, humor and patience....

When Hurricane Maria landed, it wreaked havoc on an already economically unstable Puerto Rico. Since then, nonprofit groups have worked tirelessly to recover homes, rebuild "resilient housing" and move Congress to enact needed policy reform, including operationalizing FEMA's Disaster Housing Assistance Program. Marion McFadden, Enterprise Community Partners, and Sarah Mickelson, National Low Incom...

Renata Soto is the dynamic executive director of Conexion Americas, an immigrant serving nonprofit in Nashville, Tennessee. She spoke to Power Station, at the 2018 UnidosUS Conference, about how she balances the provision of programs and services for Latino families with their engagement in policy advocacy. The Escalera Program, a UnidosUS initiative, helps immigrant children succeed educationally...

Rob Randhava is Senior Counsel to the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, which brings together our nation's leading progressive organizational voices on education, housing, labor and immigration and advocates for policies that create equity and opportunity in marginalized and communities of color. Rob brings his legal expertise and commitment to justice to LCCR's network of advocacy...

The New York Foundation is a singular resource for neighborhood based organizations in NYC, often start-ups, that prioritize organizing and community engagement. These groups may have modest resources but their voice, impact and influence is growing. They are identifying problems and solutions within failing systems, from housing to schools to immigration. As executive director Maria Mottola expla...

Maryland Legal Aid is a lifeline for low-income people facing eviction, living with substandard housing conditions, seeking veteran's benefits and overcoming domestic abuse. MLAB, under the leadership of bridge-builder and advocate Wilhelm Joseph, is a robust nonprofit organization with 12 offices across the state. The newest program innovation, The Community Lawyering Initiative, is a mobile reso...

Alejandra Castillo has been a Special Advisor in the Clinton administration and National Director of the Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency under President Obama. Even so, she says that being CEO of the YWCA National is the hardest job she's ever had. Now celebrating its 160th year, the YWCA, this nation's first fully integrated institution has an explicit mission to elimi...

Washington, DC is not only our nation's capital, it is a city of neighborhoods, rich in African American arts and culture. In this episode of Power Station, Fair Budget co-director Monica Kamen, explains how shifting  demographics and significant public and private investment in affluent communities, have made citizen engagement in policy and budgetary decisions all the more critical. Monica and c...

Isabel Rubio, executive director of Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, which serves the Latino immigrant community, explains the push and pull between progressiveness and regressiveness in Birmingham. In 2011, the passage of HB 56, allowed law enforcement to detain and arrest people for "reasonable suspicion" of unlawful status, creating profound fear in the community. More recently, the Lati...

For Evelyn Brito, access to healthy food is more than an abstract policy goal. It is a driving motivation for her new web-based series, My Bodega Makeover, which documents her collaboration with bodega owners and customers in her own neighborhood of Lynn, Massachusetts. The goals are ambitious. She is confident that bodegas can be a source of healthy foods if struggling owners can access produce,...

An important sea-change is underway in the housing and community development field. Opportunity Starts at Home, a new campaign launched by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, has drawn our nation's leading civil rights, education, economic mobility, housing, homelessness and health nonprofits into a multi-sector effort to support the expansion of rental housing for lowest income Americans....

Amelia Lobo is an all-in advocate for women and immigrants who aspire to be small business owners. She has underwritten loans to new small business owners in NYC and trained Latinas in Iowa in how to open and expand a business. She has grappled with the limitations of the federal Small Business Administration and wants nonprofits to advocate for systems changes to better serve their communities. A...

Kris Siglin believes deeply in the members of Housing Partnership Network. This collaboration of 100 high-performing housing developers of single and multi-family housing extends to 50 states. As Senior VP of Policy at HPN, Kris engages members in advocating for public resources to increase the scale of affordable housing solutions for low-income Americans. As a trade association, HPN values both...

As Sarah Mickelson explains, the National Low Income Housing Coalition views it members, low-income people living in federally assisted housing, as experts on our nation's severe housing shortage. They are included in every organizational conference and convening and meet regularly with members of Congress  about their experiences and recommendations. NLIHC is a relentless champion of the housing...

Luis Granados, executive director of Mission Economic Development Agency, believes in and uses the power of organizing, services, policy advocacy and capital to strengthen the foothold and economic futures of Latino families in San Francisco's Mission District. MEDA's new 501c4 initiative adds political engagement to the mix, elevating MEDA's role in determining representation of the community. Lu...

Before Seema became executive director of National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (CAPACD), she led Chhaya CDC, an influential nonprofit representing South Asians in Queens, New York. That experience informs her work with National CAPACD, whose 100 member organizations provide housing, youth, and small business services for East Asians and South Asians across the nation...

Access to affordable housing is a national imperative but, as Frank Woodruff will tell you, it takes more than bricks and mortar to build a community. Frank leads National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA) an organization whose members are local and state level nonprofits serving CDCs (Community Development Corporations) in their communities. NACEDA's members have th...

Paty Funegra drew on her experience as an immigrant and a businesswoman to create a new model for generating economic and social change. The result, La Cocina VA, is a nonprofit, rooted in social entrepreneurship where women improve their English, sharpen their culinary skills, connect to employers and in some cases become business owners. La Cocina's bi-lingual culinary training program produces...