Stories of Philanthropic Leadership in Advancing Regional and ...

through policy reform at the local and state levelsand advance a regional perspective as the lensthrough which to approach poverty and segregation.As the demonstrations progress, each site will havearticulated, pursued,In both Camden andRichmond, the FordFoundation’s ultimateobjective is to address social,racial, economic, andenvironmental inequalitiesthrough policy reform at thelocal and state levels andadvance a regionalperspective as the lensthrough which to approachpoverty and segregation.and documented aunique approach tolinking marginalizedplaces and people toregionalopportunities andwill have participatedin and contributed toa learning network ofpeers pursuingsimilar work in otherareas of the country.Ford anticipatesmeasurable andsignificant results willbe realized in Camden, made possible in part by theresources provided through the demonstrationproject. The vision is that the CRA will improve theprofessional staff, systems, and resources needed tofunction effectively on behalf of the continuingimprovement of the city. Redevelopedneighborhoods will have improved by attractingmixed-income residents, providing expanded choiceand opportunities for city residents, and increasingrevenues for the city budget. A cadre of invested andengaged citizens will have emerged. Affordablehousing throughout the Camden metropolitanregion will be operating in collaboration withmunicipalities and private developers. Furthermore,the restoration and redevelopment of Camden’s parkswill be ongoing, with increasing public and privatesupport for the value of open space to neighborhoodsand schools. On the employment development front,a network of workforce organizations are tappinginto the New Jersey and Philadelphia economies andproviding tangible opportunities for Camdenresidents to work productively throughout theregion. The state’s policy will also be impacted as aninfluential, statewide, multi-racial advocacyorganization will be in place in New Jersey carryingout a regional equity policy reform agenda. Funderswill continue to be involved in the region, as anetwork of private foundations and corporations willbe actively engaged in funding regional equity workin the Camden region.Both Ford and The San Francisco Foundationindicate that Richmond has a tremendous amount oflocal leadership, but are too often not workingtogether effectively. The Richmond demonstrationproject is an opportunity to bring diverse groupstogether around an inclusive agenda. According toThe San Francisco Foundation’s Rodriguez, theRichmond Initiative should help build a communitylevelunderstanding of community needs andsuccessfully link those issues to larger regional issuesand decisionmaking processes. A key goal for theproject is sustainability and local capacitydevelopment. The work in Richmond is not a shorttermeffort, and the anchor groups as well as otherfuture project partners need the internal capacity tocontinue and expand the work when the currentFord/San Francisco Foundation funding stream isreduced or ends.Lessons LearnedCamden and Richmond have provided very differentlessons, mostly the result of their differentcharacteristics (weak market versus strong market)and Ford’s different approaches (project/asset-basedregionalism versus need/community-basedregionalism).Camden has no functional city government andFord believes similar challenges will likely beencountered in other small cities located indeclining regions. In weak markets like Camden,governmental functions and supports are eitherinadequate or non-existent. Therefore, a fundershould anticipate devoting significant resourcestoward infrastructure and capacity building. Afunder’s investment in an older and weak marketcity requires a unique strategy to build on a city’sexisting strengths as opposed to investing based ona community’s needs. In Camden, this meansfocusing on the potential strengths in the realestate market. When lacking a meaningful civicinfrastructure—because of residents’ apathy,government corruption, and other factors—funderssupporting broader community revitalization needto devote their resources to the emergence of ahealthy civic infrastructure. Funders should alsoevaluate the negative/positive impact of the localpublic infrastructure. For example, in Camden, thebroader public infrastructure (other cities, stategovernment) actually inhibits Camden’sdevelopment. Camden is home to many projectsEQUITABLE PUBLIC INVESTMENTPart III: Section 1: Promoting Equitable Public Investment 36