Accelerator for America in Action in Chicago
The Windy City was sunny, warm and welcoming – as was our host, Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia, as Accelerator for America held its Spring Advisory Council meeting last week.
Our delegation of 18 Mayors and 125 other leaders from the worlds of business, non-profit, philanthropy, academia, labor, and economic, workforce and infrastructure development were also warmly received by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and other committed public and nonprofit leaders working every day to lift the fortunes of all Chicagoans in ways that resonate in City Halls across the country.
Our meeting both covered the urgent topics for local government leaders and provided for the usual camaraderie and peer sharing – aided by some fine local menu fare, Chicago Dogs, deep dish pizza, and treats from local small business Brown Sugar Bakery!
We saw the transformational work of mHUB Chicago, where entrepreneurs come together with industry experts and investors in a former industrial facility brought to new life on the city’s West Side. Through the Catalyze Initiative, mHUB promotes wealth creation for underrepresented founders through access to non-dilutive capital, equipment, and subject matter experts. On the South Side, Carlos Nelson of the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation (GAGDC), Dr. Rami Nashashibi of IMAN, and other Chicago community leaders emphasized the impacts of long-term disinvestment and the urgent need to ensure that new investments put the community’s assets and aspirations at the forefront. The juxtaposition of a new fresh food market, Go Green on Racine, next door to a long-shuttered rail transit station – with the potential to reopen and once again connect across neighborhoods – was a striking example of the critical intersection between transit access and inclusive economic development. Most importantly, we felt the resilience and strength of Chicago’s community leadership and want to extend a special thank you to Carlos and his incredible team at GAGDC for welcoming our entire group for AFA’s Monday meeting at their Healthy Lifestyle Hub, which brought new life to a long-vacant building.
Our meeting was also set against the backdrop of the 2024 elections and emphasized how local leaders are making a difference every day despite uncertainty at the national level. Our Advisory Council Co-Chairs Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Kansas City, MO Mayor Quinton Lucas shared examples of how Mayors and other local elected leaders are pushing forward with major action to reconnect neighborhoods and residents to opportunity with infrastructure, turn new federal investments into new careers for city residents, and work across the aisle to get it all done. As our Mayors are fond of saying, “there’s no Democrat or Republican way to fill a pothole."
As we listened to presentations and discussion from local and national leaders and enjoyed side conversations in hallways, on boats and buses, and over meals, it was clear that this moment in America calls for our leaders to have a plan to sustain and build upon initiatives that bring all the pieces together regardless of any changes the national election may bring. A critical theme emerged around the interplay of housing, infrastructure and workforce development, and the need to approach these holistically rather than in siloes. Additionally, storytelling is a critical element – we must ensure the American people understand how this work affects their daily lives, in their local communities. Addressing those challenges is at the heart of AFA work across 80 communities and counting.
Housing
Housing was a major focus of our gathering. Our longtime research partner Bruce Katz of the Drexel University Nowak Metro Finance Lab previewed the New Directions in Housing Task Force that will be launched in partnership with AFA. Inspired by previous task forces that led to systemic changes in the federal approach to housing policy, the New Directions in Housing Task Force will focus on identifying and scaling local and state innovations, and recommend federal policy changes, to begin to tackle the housing crisis.
“I started seeing our city pricing people out,” said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens about what drove him to first run for office. He shared his focus on mixed-income housing, where “a bus driver, a teacher and a principal” can all have the opportunity to live in the same high-quality building in a thriving neighborhood. He also made note of his housing strike force to build housing on public land – organizing local government entities and their top leaders to work collectively toward a shared goal.
Susan Thomas of Fifth Third Bank noted that financial institutions can and must play a key role in housing development by bringing innovation to capital stacks that drive up costs and have high thresholds for participation, while Alyssa Hernandez, Cleveland’s Director of Community Development, reminded us of the urgency cities are facing. “Cleveland can’t wait,” she said, noting that only 20 percent of the city’s housing stock has been built since 1980 and that the city’s land bank alone holds 18,000 vacant parcels.
Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, noted that he is working to promote housing production through zoning reform, as well as implementing other policies that can cut costs and expedite timelines that are squarely within the city’s control. He also recognized the importance of keeping people already in lower cost housing in their homes as the nation faces an unprecedented homelessness crisis, noting that Cincinnati guarantees access to legal counsel to those facing eviction and funds emergency rental assistance, which is more cost effective than addressing the situation after people lose their housing.
Federal Funding & Infrastructure Development
As she works to serve residents and leverage federal investments through the city’s Economic Justice Action Plan, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones described several of their successes in building new housing, supporting new home ownership, helping local small business start and scale, and investing in transformational priority projects. The city has allocated significant American Rescue Plan Act dollars that will be leveraged by private and philanthropic investment.
Maurice Henderson of HNTB commented that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law represents a “$1.2 trillion down payment,” given that localities can leverage it with other public and private resources, while Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards highlighted that “federal dollars like to be matched with other dollars.” Mayor Tim Kelly of Chattanooga cautioned that under-resourced communities must guard against being the “dog who catches the car.” Communities who receive federal funds must have the capacity to follow through, which he said is increasingly a challenge. This capacity building is what AFA and our partners are working to provide right now.
Mayor Quentin Hart of Waterloo, IA noted his partnership with AFA to add capacity to his agenda, including providing assistance to support Waterloo Fiber, the city-owned and voter-backed broadband project that he sees as ending the days where “where you live dictates the kind of service you have” and as an economic accelerator for Waterloo. Overall, he said, “I feel like we’re in a position where we can pick up the phone and call our federal partners, which is a paradigm shift.”
Even as more federal funding is flowing, however, systemic challenges within government procurement systems continue to disfavor underserved communities and can limit how money flows to local firms for local projects. Bruce Katz, along with Charisse Conanan Johnson of Next Street and Kala Gibson of Fifth Third Bank and Chair of the National Minority Supplier Diversity Council, highlighted innovations in San Antonio, El Paso and in the state of Maryland to lower barriers and cut red tape for federal procurement and discussed other opportunities to advance more equitable supply chain opportunities across the country.
An overview of AFA’s place-based investment work touched on other complications related to federal funding. Trenton Allen of Sustainable Capital Advisors noted that many changemaking organizations in underserved communities, including non-profits and religious institutions, are tax-exempt, which has historically negated the utility of tax credits and similar incentives; however provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act provide new opportunity with the right support and technical assistance to navigate the process and paperwork. Andrew Beideman of the Pritzker Traubert Foundation said that to overcome barriers to capital access for high-impact community development projects, his organization launched the Chicago Prize to grant $10 million in liquid capital to communities to execute on their vision and catalyze change, as well as to help attract additional resources.
Even in this time of unprecedented federal investment in infrastructure and other areas, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell detailed his city’s effort to generate local infrastructure dollars through the Choose How You Move ballot measure, on which he has been deeply engaged with Accelerator for America Action (our companion 501(c)(4) organization). The measure will appear on the November ballot and would generate $3.1 billion to help Nashvillians move between work, school, home and recreation faster, safer and with more transportation options. He noted that this measure is part of his work to build a Nashville that works for Nashvillians at a time of significant growth, traffic congestion and automobile ownership costing the average Nashvillian $12,000 a year.
In total, AFA Action is working on $57 billion in transportation funding measures proposed for the November ballot, building on the more than $40 billion in local infrastructure funding AFAA has helped secure since our founding.
Workforce Development
Wendy Chun-Hoon, Director of the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau, said that USDOL’s “North Star” is to make sure that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds good paying union jobs and provides career pathways for women, people of color, justice impacted communities and other underrepresented communities.
Jonathan Jones of the Mid-America Carpenters Regional Council echoed this sentiment. “Smart companies are catching on to the secret. We are trying to get people to understand the value of opening up the door to a talent pool that can take your organization to the next level.”
Maximizing federal funds, building housing and making it so people can afford quality places to live, however, are contingent on workforce development initiatives that focus both on upskilling and on people’s everyday lives.
San Antonio, TX Mayor Ron Nirenberg shared his view that workforce development is less about curriculum but about participant barriers. “The thing that prevents completion is life. … Where we could really triple down on is quality child care coupled with workforce programs.” This is a key vision of Mayor Nirenberg’s Ready To Work program, which San Antonio voters passed in 2020, and has provided career training access and critical support to thousands of San Antonio residents seeking quality jobs.
“We want to welcome people into the trades and keep them there – to set them up for success,” said Jim Brewer of the North America’s Building Trades Unions, citing an Intel manufacturing plant in Ohio where the unionized construction workforce is building a childcare facility for their kids that will be adapted as a permanent facility for Intel employees.
Accelerator thanks the many Chicago leaders and organizations who warmly welcomed us to their neighborhoods and shared their stories of trial and triumph. Advancing economic mobility is a team sport, and from Chicago’s West to South Sides, we saw an amazing group of Chicagoans across government, philanthropy, business, and community leadership working together to win the day. A special note of gratitude to longtime AFA Advisory Council Member, Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia, and AFA Action Board Member Reyahd Kazmi for their extraordinary effort in bringing this meeting to life.
Our gathering in Chicago was inspiring, thought-provoking and added even more urgency to our work. As a “Do Thank” making national change from the ground up, we are already building on the ideas brought forth in Chicago – and we are busy planning our next Advisory Council meeting in November in San Antonio, TX!
Thank you for all of your support and the work you do every day in your communities.
