Intrapreneurs Re-Imagining Cities: How can we co-create urban spaces that foster thriving and equitable communities?
A League of Intrapreneurs Pathfinding Conversation
While many are lamenting 2020 as the year they wish never was, intrapreneurs are grateful for the massive spotlight it has provided to illuminate critical societal challenges. From inequality to poverty, addiction to climate change, this year has made clear that many of our systems — including our cities — need help.
And as we look to rebuild, we risk not dreaming big enough. We risk going back to the sub-optimal status quo. What we need now are dreamers. Dreamers who do. Passionate change agents who think in systems and act like entrepreneurs. Creatively and collaboratively harnessing the assets of our influential institutions for impact. We need intrapreneurs.
For our latest Pathfinding Conversation, we brought together three intrapreneurs to explore their urban dreams and their plans for making them a reality. Here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Oswaldo (Oz) Ortega, architect and designer at Gensler, Erin Welk at Urban Matters and Grant Ervin, Chief Resilience Officer at City of Pittsburgh.
Design for Belonging
All three intrapreneurs expressed variations on a theme of belonging. That our current city design and engagement processes leave too many on the outside. In her work to create a sustainable and equitable Vancouver, Erin is asking, “How can we all feel we belong in the spaces that we live?”
One way she and her team are approaching this question is by including people who have experience with homelessness or opioid use to be active participants in designing solutions. Specifically, they have set up an employment agency for people with relevant lived experience to be paid by city agencies to engage in projects such as a recent one designing a public washroom site that is staffed by people from the agency.
“In essence, we’re creating a process where people feel valued and can actively contribute solutions,” Erin described. This model can be applied across a range of communities and issues. She went on to ask, “How do we create a scaffolding for civic life — for citizens to engage with each other, learn from peers and be inspired to contribute to how we use our cities post-COVID?”
Oz shared his perspective that this desire for belonging will spill over into our workspaces. Since we’re all currently working from home in places where we choose to live — where we belong — what is going to draw us back to our institutional environs? A recent Gensler survey of 2,500 employees across industries showed that 52% of people will want to work from home 1–4 days per week, so work from home is here to stay. Oz suggests that to effectively compete, companies will have to see their office spaces not as places for productivity, but as spaces for connection, collaboration and belonging. And, he asked “How might the fact so many people are working from home contribute to revitalizing our neighborhoods?”
Black Expression as Economic Engine
Oz also shared about his emergent work exploring how Black Expression can be used as a lever for economic prosperity in cities. “Just as Black Expression has been marketed in fashion and entertainment, how does that work in cities?” he asked. Oz acknowledged that to date, this urban brand has often come with negative connotations. But, what if Black Retail corridors could become fuel and energy for Black neighborhoods? He offered that some of these neighborhoods have the best retail “anchors” — like the best enchiladas or bbq — that would bring other actors and investors.
During recent protests many outsiders experienced first hand the beauty and vibrancy of south Chicago. Oz believes this type of local ‘tourism’ is a good thing and shared his vision that cities can move beyond gentrification to a greater sense of shared belonging for co-creation and change.
Oz isn’t just dreaming, he’s also actively working with young Black and Brown students in South Chicago to educate them about the power of urban spaces and provide them with the tools for cultural expression through their Project Pipeline design build program. Through a 16–20 week program held annually, they renovate a local non-for-profit space. This summer, during the Pandemic, as kids had few opportunities, his students were still able to participate in a design and build program through another initiative on the south side of Chicago; where they built outdoor parks for local retailers to have outdoor seating areas. At the core of this work is providing young people with the tools and mindsets to see that they, too, can make history.
Show Bureaucrats Some Love
Grant shared that the City of Pittsburgh is one of the first US cities to complete a Voluntary Local Review benchmarking their activities to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As part of this process, Grant and his team conducted in depth engagement with city employees, similar to how they might engage the community on a particular issue. “They were so thankful because they had never been asked before,” exclaimed Grant. The result is that city employees not only understand how their work connects to achieving the SDGs, but they feel valued, they feel a part and are energized to continue contributing to positive change.
One of the the projects city employees are undertaking as part of their ambition to deliver the SDGs at local level include linking “the value chain to the supply chain” — in essence using the power of procurement to deliver social and environmental impact. For example, the city is currently divesting from fossil fuels, for profit prisons and guns in its municipal pension fund. The city is also using a frame of ‘energy-oriented’ development, looking at the links between energy investment and community prosperity. (More about this initiative here.)
Remain Hopeful
Our intrapreneurs shared their reasons to remain hopeful in this moment. As someone who has worked on social justice for 20 years, Grant is finding hope in the “great awakening” sparked by the pandemic around the need for racial and climate justice. Oz is seeing people value the hyper local — people who have so much local wisdom that can give you a sense of the nuances of the smaller enclaves in larger urban cities, how to navigate to push for change. “We’re listening to the right end users.” And for Erin, hope is coming from seeing unprecedented behavior change happen as a result of the pandemic. “Change is possible. We can harness this energy and the increased care that we’ve shown for each other during the pandemic to affect change across other social issues and on climate.”
Pathfinding Conversations is an ongoing series of unplugged dialogues with our League of Intrapreneurs Community. If you’re an innovator with a bold North Star, navigating new terrain without a map, join us. We’d love to meet you! www.leagueofintrapreneurs.com
About our Speakers:
Oswaldo Ortega
Oswaldo Ortega was born and raised in New York City and got his first taste of architecture in a class at Brooklyn Technical High School. This propelled him to Syracuse University’s School of Architecture, where he not only earned his bachelor’s degree, but took on leadership roles that included founding the Society of Multicultural Architects and Designers and joining Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
After graduating from SU, Ortega attended Columbia University, where he earned a Master’s in Science of Urban Design and Architecture. During that time, he worked for the Urban Technical Assistance Project, where, through a grassroots process that included interviewing community leaders, residents, and store owners, he assisted in designing the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building Plaza in Harlem.
In 2007, Ortega joined the Washington, D.C. office of HOK, one of the world’s largest design practices, where he operated as the project architect for four office buildings, one biotech laboratory facility, one office building renovation and several conceptual design packages for international clients. He also continued to develop his leadership skills through the Leadership Development Program at Johns Hopkins University and by leading the Architecture, Construction, and Engineering Mentoring program at Wheaton High School Maryland.
Ortega became a LEED Accredited Professional in 2009 and a licensed architect in the state of Maryland in 2013. He then decided to refocus on design and joined Gensler. At Gensler, Ortega led architectural and interiors projects. Most recently Ortega was the project architect for the JCI Headquarters in Shanghai, where he frequently traveled to represent his team.
Ortega is very passionate about giving back. As the Past-President of the Illinois chapter of NOMA (National Organization of Minority Architects) he is constantly developing programs to inspire the youth, such as Project Pipeline and the ACE Mentoring program.
In 2019, Ortega was named 2019 Architects to a Know by Architizer, was awarded the National AIA Young Architect Award and the SAH (Society Of Architectural Historians) Pathfinder Award and recently Ortega, has been featured in the October issue of Contract Magazine.
Erin Welk
Erin is deeply invested in creating a future of inclusive growth and full participation for everyone in society. Her work is rooted in the local; she is most energized convening a diverse group of community changemakers to understand complex social challenges and catalyze positive outcomes. At Urban Matters CCC, she works with communities across Canada to align action on a host of complex challenges such as climate change, affordable housing, homelessness and coordinating responses to the opioid overdose crisis. Erin draws on years of facilitation and collaboration expertise in her work — often aiming for a fine balance between facilitating group trust and moving from talk to action.
Recently Erin cofounded PEOPLE Employment Services, a social enterprise which provides meaningful employment opportunities for people with lived experience in poverty and/or addiction. Erin founded the initiative within Urban Matters CCC before spinning it out into a stand alone organization that em-loves over 30 individuals.
Erin lives in Kelowna, British Columbia with her husband and daughter. She spends her free time mountain biking, skiing, trail running and dancing.
Grant Ervin, (Chief Resilience Officer — Pittsburgh)
Grant Ervin serves as the Chief Resilience Officer and Assistant Director for the Department of City Planning for the City of Pittsburgh. Grant oversees the integration of sustainability and resilience into City services, programs and policy. He works to make the City of Pittsburgh a smart, sustainable and resilient city by fostering partnerships, leveraging assets and finding creative ways to solve civic problems. Prior to joining the City of Pittsburgh, Grant served as the Regional Director for 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, a statewide sustainable development policy organization; and as Public Policy Manager for Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group (PCRG) — a community based organization serving Pittsburgh’s 90 neighborhoods.
Grant serves as an integrator of city activities by working across departments, agencies and sectors to form public policy and market based solutions. He brings deep experience, intersecting the worlds of environmental, community & economic development and infrastructure policy to create innovative and sustainable solutions for local governments, community development organizations and state agencies. In his role with the City of Pittsburgh, he oversees the development of the City’s energy transition strategy, climate policy, environmental social and governance (ESG) analysis, district scale sustainability and circularity.
Grant has helped lead the development of a variety of innovative programs and decision support activities including: Pittsburgh’s participation with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), creation of the ONEPGH Resilience Strategy, Pittsburgh Equity Indicators, Pittsburgh Climate Plan, Pittsburgh’s inclusion in the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities Initiative; the United States Department of Transportation’s Smart Cities Challenge, the creation of the Uptown Eco-Innovation District, District Energy Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh and Neighborhood Community Information System, participation in the Urban Transitions Alliance and the Pennsylvania Community Transportation Initiative.
Grant serves on the board of directors of Eco Districts, Pittsburgh Allegheny County Thermal (PACT) District Heating Company, American Institute for Architects (AIA) Pittsburgh Chapter and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). He is a member of the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN). Grant resides in the Morningside neighborhood of Pittsburgh with his wife and two daughters.
