COVID-19 Equitable Relief & Recovery

While no community has been spared by the current public health crisis, COVID-19 has taken a disproportionate toll on the physical and economic well-being of African-American and Latino communities in America's cities. The Urban America Forward Equitable Relief & Recovery webinar series highlights partners and practices in eight U.S. cities that prioritize racial equity in COVID-19 relief and response. We will discuss the work of equitable relief, lessons learned, and models for collaboration with leaders from Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Washington D.C.

• AUG 3 - How Practitioners are Preventing COVID-19 from Expanding the Racial Wealth Gap (Click for details and video)
• AUG 24 - Preventing Housing Insecurity: COVID-19, Rental Assistance, and Mortgage Relief (Click for details and video)
• SEPT 14 - Public-Private Partnerships: Investing in Lives and Livelihoods (Click for details and video)
• OCT 5 - What will Urban America look like post-COVID? (Click for details and video)

Webinars are open to all local innovators and community development practitioners to enable the sharing of insights across cities. The series will be made available on the New America COVID-19 YouTube playlist, the Urban America Forward website, and syndicated by The Indianapolis Recorder, one of America's oldest Black newspapers.

Guests featured in the series include:

• Alaina Beverly, Assistant Vice President for Urban Affairs, University of Chicago
• Ashleigh Gardere, Senior Advisor to the President & CEO / Director, All-In Cities, PolicyLink
• Breonne DeDecker, Program Director, Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative, New Orleans
• Carmen James Randolph, Vice President for Programs, Greater New Orleans Foundation
• Charles Rutheiser, Senior Associate, Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Daniel Ash, Associate Vice President of Community Impact, The Chicago Community Trust
• Dr. Breanca Merritt, Founding Director, Center for Research on Inclusion and Social Policy
• Ellis Carr, President and CEO, Capital Impact Partners (Washington, D.C.)
• Franklyn Baker, President and Chief Executive Officer, United Way of Central Maryland (Baltimore)
• Helene Gayle, CEO, The Chicago Community Trust (Chicago)
• James Feagin, Chief Strategist, Projects + People (Detroit)
• Jo-Anne Stately, Director of Impact Strategy, Economic Vitality, The Minneapolis Foundation
• K. Sabeel Rahman, President, Demos
• Karen Freeman-Wilson, President and CEO, Chicago Urban League
• Lauren Counts, Senior Director of Strategy / Head of National Programs, Capital Impact Partners
• Lynnette White-Colin, Vice President, Small Business Initiatives, New Orleans Business Alliance (New Orleans)
• Marc Morial, President and CEO, The National Urban League
• Marisa Novara, Commissioner, Department of Housing, City of Chicago
• Milton J. Little, Jr., President and CEO, United Way of Greater Atlanta
• Molly Martin, Director, New America Indianapolis\\
• Nancy Johnson, President and CEO, Urban League of Greater Atlanta
• Pamela Lewis, Director, New Economy Initiative (Detroit)
• Samuel Ndely, Director of Employer Inclusivity - Center for Economic Inclusion
• Terri Lee, Chief Housing Officer, City of Atlanta
• Tisha Edwards, Director, Office of Children & Family Success, City of Baltimore
• Vincent Ash, Director of Economic Development, Develop Indy - Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce
• Warren Hanson, President & Chief Executive Officer, Greater Minnesota Housing Fund
• Ryan Albright, Senior Planner/Project Manager, Civix (New Orleans)
• MarySue Barrett, President, Metropolitan Planning Council (Chicago)
• Tawanna Black, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Center for Economic Inclusion (Minneapolis)
• Anika Goss-Foster, Executive Director, Detroit Future City
• Doug Hooker, Executive Director, Atlanta Regional Commission
• Maria Rosario Jackson, Ph.D., Senior Advisor, The Kresge Foundation; Institute Professor, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts; and Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, Arizona State University
• Michael B. Kelly, Executive Director, Baltimore Metropolitan Council
• Michael Pagano, Dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago

Launched in 2015 by partners at the University of Chicago, the Urban America Forward program convenes non-profit, private, public and philanthropic sector leaders, as well as urban researchers and social scientists who are committed to furthering equity in urban America.

New America Local is a geographically distributed team at New America, created in 2015 to work with local communities on issues of racial and economic equity. We build better feedback loops between lived experience and policy design, providing a national platform for local problem solvers.

The University of Chicago Office of Civic Engagement and New America Indianapolis are honored to host this important and timely conversation with the generous support of our partners: