GOP Tax Plan Takes Mortgage Interest Deduction Unfairness Off the Charts
Let’s raise the standard deduction and lower tax rates to give everyone a tax cut! It should not surprise you that since this is a description of the House GOP […]
Bringing Together Arts and Community Development
Who has been behind the large increase in financial support for and attention to what has been termed “creative placemaking” over the past couple years, and why?
A Tale of Two Murals in Albany
Having had the experience of public art with no public involvement, a community organization set out to show there could be another way.
Art Just Became Even More Essential
Coming mere days after the election, the reference to the famous Audre Lorde declaration, “Art gives us tools other than the master’s tools,” felt apropos. The people in the room were ready to hear any message of hope. I was no exception.
Interview with Rip Rapson, president and CEO of the Kresge Foundation
If you look at what Rip Rapson has accomplished and the insight he brings to his current work, you’ll get a much better picture of who he is and the challenging work he spearheads at the Kresge Foundation.
Airbnb, Test Your Hosts for Bias
Airbnb, as with some other of its fellow peer-to-peer “disruptive” tech solutions, has come under fire from a few directions over the past years. Along with concerns that it could […]
Some HUD Secretary Possibilities Are Serious–Others Laughable
[Edited to add: As of 11/28, We learned that Ben Carson accepted this position. We'll have more on what this means in weeks to come.] Attention has been rightly focused […]
Interview with Lisa Mensah, Under Secretary for Rural Development, USDA
At the Opportunity Finance Network conference in October, I finally got a chance to sit down and talk with Lisa Mensah, undersecretary for USDA rural development, whose energy and spirit […]
Top Racial Justice Leaders Give Post-Election Thoughts
Nearly to a person, the 2,300 attendees at last week’s Facing Race conference—and most of the speakers—said, at some point in the weekend that the gathering was “just where I […]
CDFIs “Rethink” Systems, But (Hopefully) Not Identity
We are definitely in some danger of losing a connection to the animating social movements that gave rise to the industry.
What If a Community Art Project Were Never Done?
Last week, while in Atlanta for the Opportunity Finance Network conference, I caught a glimpse on a bus tour of the Krog Street Tunnel. The narrow tunnel under a railroad […]
New Lenses on Economic Development
Billions of taxpayer dollars are spent every year to stimulate economic development. Is it going where we think it’s going?