Currently, Amber Seely is the Director of Finance for Renaissance Neighborhood Development, the housing and neighborhood development unit of Volunteers for America Greater New Orleans. Amber’s passion and fascination with New Orleans began in 2007 when she traveled there with the Milano community development finance lab to conduct research in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Amber was drawn to the unique challenges and culture of the area. Since graduating from Milano, she has returned to New Orleans through a Rockefeller fellowship with the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence. At this time her work includes development of two mixed-income housing areas (350 units in the Gentilly and Tulane Avenue area, and 150 units in the Covington and Lower Garden District), as well as active involvement in community-outreach programs.

My congratulations to Amber! Her commitment and hard work over her (relatively few) years in New Orleans -- in addition to her enthusiasm for the people and the area -- are exemplary! She is truly an agent of social and economic change and we, of course, are extremely proud of her ongoing success!

Be well-

Lisa

Darrick Hamilton, assistant Assistant Professor at Milano – The New School for Management and Urban Policy and William Darity Jr., Arts & Sciences Professor of Public Policy Studies and Professor of African and African American Studies and Economics at Duke University, explore this question in a recent article, Race, Wealth, and Intergenerational Poverty in the September 2009 issue of The American Prospect. Focusing on the disparaging racial gap in the United States, the article traces its history and indicates, “regardless of age, household structure, education, occupation, or income, black households typically have less than a quarter of the wealth of otherwise white households.”

Hamilton and Darity’s work aims to understand why the black-white wealth gap persists and how to directly close (or at least greatly decrease) the gap, through public-sector intervention. Perhaps the most interesting and crucial aspect of this article dispels the commonly cited discriminatory myths that were “crafted” to explain why inequity exists, such as “blacks are less frugal when it comes to savings” and lack “financial literacy.” Through their research, Hamilton and Darity find that both statements are false and present their findings in the article.

To further get at this question of why the racial wealth gap remains, the authors’ analysis indicates that “inheritances, bequests, and intra-family transfers account for more of the racial wealth gap than any other demographic and socioeconomic factor, including education, income, and household structure.” Hamilton and Darity provide necessary policy proposals that will help us begin move far and beyond this racial divide.

Be well-

Lisa

I look forward to volunteering on Saturday along with students and alumni, as well as with my own kids, in East New York, Brooklyn, at the Transitional Living Community (TCL) Therapeutic Garden. This project will consist of sprucing up -- raking, weeding, pruning, and painting -- a quarter-acre community garden that is mainly used as a psychiatric and therapeutic space for 40 mentally ill homeless women in the neighboring woman’s shelter. Originally a vacant lot, this outdoor space has since been turned into a vegetable and flower garden.

Milano Cares Day not only provides us with opportunities to help local organizations do much-needed work in the community, but, perhaps more importantly, it also provides opportunities for us to see first-hand and also reflect, and question the policies and institutions that make volunteering necessary. While volunteering is only one step, what else, we must ask ourselves, can be done to help those in need?

I hope you’ll join us this coming Saturday -- thank’s in advance to those of you participating in the 2009 Milano Cares Day; we hope to make this an annual event, and with your help, I’m sure we can. Please let me know about your own experience on Saturday, and also check back for my recap of the day.

Be well-

Lisa

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you are interested in volunteering for either of the two projects (below) that still need volunteers, please sign up by sending an email to reichv@newschool.edu and write “Milano Cares Day” in the subject line. Also, please indicate your preference of projects.

Volunteer Project 1

Boys Town of New York 

Project: Annual Career day. Volunteers sit on a panel and speak about their careers.

Date: Saturday, Oct. 24th, 2009

Time: 9:45 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Location: 167 Willoughby Street, at the corner of Flatbush/Willoughby

Each year Boys Town holds a “career day” for its students in which men and women from all professional walks of life come in and talk about how they achieved their careers. The students will receive valuable tips (secrets, strategies, do’s and don’ts, etc.) on how to “get there” in the professional world. About 45 boys, in all, are placed in the Boys Town organization’s care by New York City’s juvenile justice system. Boy’s Town is always looking for good role models as it endeavors to introduce distinct, varied and critical aspects of society to the resident youths.

Volunteer Project 2

The Doe Fund, Inc 

Time: 11:00 am - 3:00 pm

So let me know…

• Do you have a blog? Or have you ever thought about starting one?
  
• What blogs (or types of blogs) do you keep up with and read? Which is your favorite?
  

For me, the best aspects about blogging are being able to share my perspectives with others quickly, as well as providing a record or “history” that allows me to look back and see what has taken place. Send me your blog links and we’ll post them here.

Be well-

Lisa

On October 5, Milano and the Center for New York City Affairs presented a lecture on “Race and the Subprime Crisis: The Future of Minority Neighborhoods” featuring Hon. Maxine Waters, U.S. Representative (D-Calif.). This program also included a discussion with James Carr, COO, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Sarah Ludwig, Executive Director, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project (NEDAP), Edward Wright, CFO, City National Bank, and was moderated by our own Darrick Hamilton, Assistant Professor, Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy.

For a full two hours the lecture and discussion captured the audience’s full attention. Waters presented a compelling, lucid narrative of the events leading up to the current situation. You could feel the energy in the room, as the audience heard sobering statistics of the racial wealth disparity in the United States. Here are a few of the statistics presented regarding race and the wealth gap in the United States:

• Blacks and Latinos would have to save 100% of their income for 3 years in order to close the wealth gap.
• For every $1 a white person earns, Blacks earn a dime.
• 1 out of 4 homeowners owe more on their homes than their homes are worth.

So why is there such a gap between wealth and why are minorities so affected by this subprime crisis? We discussed the history leading up to the crisis and the related discriminatory policies. Among the determinants was the fact that, homeownership is the primary source of wealth for most Americans, but even though whites are considerably more likely than blacks to own their home, among blacks with positive net worth that share of black wealth attributable to housing is nearly twice as large as the white share. Therefore the loss of home equity hits blacks harder than it does whites. That however, is only part of the problem. Please read the engaging remarks by  Congresswoman Waters and  Professor Darrick Hamilton, which offer a thorough explanation of what went wrong.

It was a sobering discussion, and as I mentioned to all the evening, perhaps the clearest explanation we’ve had, so far about the crisis and what implications it has for hundreds of thousands of homeowners and communities.

Be well-

Lisa

P.S. One of the places I like to go to stay updated on issues related to the financial crisis is NPR’s Planet Money podcast. Check it out.

Be well-

Lisa

Through the 2009 Competition, the New School was able to partner with the Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association (NENA) to “develop a real estate project proposal aimed at rebuilding the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana.” Each year the project brings together students from both Parsons The New School for Design and Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy with a variety of backgrounds and skills, such as architectural design, urban planning, and finance management. It’s obvious that hands-on, real-world experience is the best way to learn and gain knowledge. I look forward to seeing the advancement of this collaborative project – I’m sure this project will be an effective part of the redevelopment of the 9th Ward.

In the coming weeks, our students will find out if they've made the finals of the competition, to be held in NOLA on November 17th.  We'll keep you posted.

Be well-

Lisa

Paul Polak, the elder statesman of the group and author of Out of Poverty urged students in the audience who want to be social entrepreneurs to simply go out and do the work. I heard echoes of Herb Sturz (blog post 9/25/2009), who similarly urged our students to get out on the street and talk to the people who are experiencing the problems we all want to solve.

“Don’t be afraid to fail,” said Polak. “I have one success for every nine failures. So go forth and fail!”

Be well-

Lisa

My “true confession” is that I first met Herb about a year ago, knowing only a fraction of the work he has done in New York City. As I read the book during the summer, my respect and admiration for Herb grew as I learned more and more about the breadth of his influence and the depth of his commitment.

During our conversation last Thursday, which was attended by students, faculty, administrators, board members, and other Milano supporters, I realized that there was one thing missing from the book—a diagram that would show all of the people to whom Sturz is connected, and another showing all of the organizations that have spun off from the Vera Institute of Justice, which Sturz founded. I realize that Roberts probably did not include such diagrams because they would have been virtually impossible to complete.

I asked Herb a question at the event, about how we should be training our students who want to follow in his footsteps. His advice? “Get them out of the classroom, and out onto the street. That’s where the real learning takes place.” Okay, I admit it, I felt validated by his response, because that is exactly what we do at Milano. Thanks, Herb

Be well-

Lisa

As a faculty member I taught Policy Analysis—a required course for all of our Urban Policy students—for seven years, and when I read TomRidge’s book I realized that his job entailed him to make the kinds of decisions we are training our students to make. Decisions about how to allocate finite resources -- for example, whether to fund more cancer research or to stockpile anthrax vaccines. In short, I anticipated Tom Ridge’s visit to Milano eagerly as a terrific learning opportunity for our community.

At Milano, we are very intentional about providing our students with both management and policy tools. As an official charged with getting a range of disparate agencies to cooperate and with making policy in a post-9/11 world, I knew that Tom Ridge had certainly confronted serious challenges involving how to integrate management and policy. His offer to speak to our community, and to answer questions, seemed to me a terrific opportunity for our students to engage with what they are learning in a very real way. Making the classroom permeable is central to my teaching philosophy and I saw this morning’s event as one of many opportunities we provide to our students to learn about how things really get done in the world.

What happened was far from what I expected. Soon after Tom Ridge completed his formal remarks, and Bob Kerrey began to moderate the question and answer portion of the program, a small group heckled and harassed both of them, preventing any questions from being asked or answered, and stifling meaningful dialogue. President Kerrey, who had indicated his intention to give the floor to Milano students, had no choice but to shut down the event. For my own part, I was literally shocked by the disrespect shown by this small group—none of whom I recognized as Milano students; I wish I had had the presence of mind to act more swiftly. The deplorable behavior exhibited by this small group flies in the face of the academic values we hold dear and that lie at the center of The New School’s identity. Shutting down a conversation, a legitimate debate is anathema to me. I remain deeply troubled by what happened on Thursday and am committed to working with my colleagues across the university to find ways to preserve the ability for all of us to engage in a free and open exchange of ideas.

The hecklers left as soon as the President terminated the event; they thought they had achieved their goals, which clearly did not involve learning, or challenging their own ideas.

What happened next, however, gives me hope. Secretary Ridge remained with those of us who stayed, and talked with a group of at least 25 students and other members of our community. He stayed for over an hour, long past when the formal program would have ended, and answered every question. He was gracious, open to taking challenging questions, and thoughtful in his responses.

It was not the program we envisioned, but the conversation took place nonetheless. Many will dwell on the theatrics—and indeed, the university will need to respond appropriately to the actions of those who disrupted the program. And while I believe it is important to condemn their behavior, I also want to shine a light on those students who came to learn, and who persisted in that goal.

Be well-

Lisa

The reason for the festival? Today is the International Day of Peace -- established back in 1981 by the United Nations General Assembly -- a day in which the world observes the occasion as a day of cease fire and non-violence. As George D’Angelo, the architect of International Peace Day indicates, this day provides a chance for individuals, organizations, communities and nations to create and participate in practical acts of peace. It also presents an opportunity to “inspire individuals and empower communities to celebrate victories for peace that have been won throughout the year, and to rededicate our commitment to work for a more peaceful, just and sustainable world all year long.”

To me, Peace Day signifies an important time for us to learn about the differences that divide us and come together through acceptance and cooperation. Join me in observing the International Day of Peace!

Be well-

Lisa

More than ever, nonprofits need help to survive these challenging times. One truly effective way to invest in one’s community, as well as support a nonprofit, is through volunteer work. Many of us here at Milano – students, faculty, administration, and alumni – regularly contribute time and energy volunteering for organizations whose missions resonates with us.

In Brooklyn, where I live, I go with my son and other kids and parents from his school to a senior residence where we sing songs and play games with the people who live there. My kids also love to bring a plastic bag and pick up garbage from the sidewalk on our walks to school. “Reduce, reuse, recycle” has been imprinted onto their brains and they are learning to live what they learn. We all can attest to the value of their volunteering efforts, and the synergistic spirit created in the process – benefiting both the target organizations, as well as the volunteer him- or her-self.

Last fall, we filled a bus with students, faculty and staff and headed to Pennsylvania to do campaign work for the presidential election. For me, it was an eye-opening experience to spend the day talking to people whose lives are very different from mine. I know that I also felt a special connection to the others who chose to spend that day volunteering.

This fall, on Saturday, October 24th, our students, faculty, administration, and alumni will come together in teams to dedicate that day to supporting their communities through volunteering. On that day – named Milano Cares Day – each team assigned to a nonprofit will share its strengths, skills and ideas, providing much-needed assistance to an organization and, in the process, gain new perspectives and create community within our Milano family.

Volunteering your time is a great habit to have. It can help you learn new skills, meet new people and break down barriers of misunderstandings and fear. And it may very well help you deal with your own struggles, or even influence the work you do in the classroom. In addition, it’s a beneficial way to make new contacts, which may ultimately help you with your own career.

If you haven’t started already, I want to encourage you to adopt a new (good) habit. You will reward yourself through helping others, and you will be joining us in our efforts to make a real difference on Milano Cares Day.

Stay tuned for further details on how to participate in Milano Cares Day.

Be well-

Lisa

September represents the official end of summer in academia as well as a clean slate and lots of different opportunities. Strive to put your best foot forward this semester (I’m sounding like my mother now!). I know you have all heard this before, but here are a few tips to keep in mind to have a successful semester.

- Be organized. A planner or personal organizer allows you to write down all your assignments and important dates.

- Talk to your professors. Be an active participant in class and schedule time to talk to professors during office hours. Even if you don’t have specific questions, make your professors aware of your own interests and passions. Seek out more advanced students and alumni to help you chart your course.

- Set realistic goals. Challenge yourself to accomplish something you have always wanted to do. Or work on breaking a bad habit. Remember – this is school. Resist the temptation to stay in your comfort zone. Take a risk, develop a new skill – be willing to fail. Write your goals down and hang them up in a place where you can see them every day.

- Explore new options. Look for opportunities to become involved with student groups and organizations.

- Be proactive. Don’t panic when you feel overwhelmed about your courses – take things step by step. If you have questions or need help, make sure to ask your professor or TA right away before things get out-of-hand.

- Remember to exercise. Take the time to stay active – do yoga (my favorite), go to the gym, or even just go for a walk. The Union Square Greenmarket is a block away every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

Good luck and have a fantastic semester! Make the most of your time at Milano – it will go quickly. Your hard work will pay off. Feel free to post here and keep me updated on how your semester is going.

 Be well-

 I’m very proud and excited to announce that The New School has just been selected to be part of the Ashoka Changemaker Campus Consortium. Only four other universities were chosen this year to form this remarkable partnership -- The University of Colorado at Boulder, Tulane University, College of the Atlantic, and Babson College. Not only is this news exciting to us, but the Ashoka announcement has already been picked up and blogged about by popular social change blog, Change.org.

Ashoka, “the world’s largest network of social entrepreneurs,” is based in Washington DC, and has teams, fellows, and staff located all over the world. Together, they’ve created the Changemaker Campus Initiative, with the aim of bringing together “students, faculty, and staff from across campus to transform their university into a hub for social change.” Specifically, this partnership with Ashoka and other universities represents “an effort to share best practices and bridge the gap between theory and practice” in the field of social entrepreneurship. In addition, the New School joins the ranks of last year’s four Changemaker Campuses – Cornell, George Mason, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Maryland .

The Ashoka initiative presents so many extraordinary opportunities for the New School -- and I can’t wait to see what results will emerge. Teaching social entrepreneurship across divisions has been on the agenda at this university for some time now and has evolved rapidly over the past 10 years. We are uniquely positioned to offer courses that draw upon the strength of various divisions (namely, the Graduate Program for International Affairs (GPIA), Eugene Lang College
The New School for Liberal Arts, Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy, and Parsons The New School for Design at the New School) that bring people together to work creatively and innovatively to solve problems. Such courses include Parsons’ Design Workshop, Milano and Parsons’ Social Entrepreneurship through Design, Milano’s Community Development Practicum, and the 2009 International Field Project in Guatemala that linked GPIA and Parsons’ students.

Over the years, more and more students have expressed interest in social entrepreneurship and we have recently added a great new faculty member, Michele Kahane, who will serve as Professor of Professional Practice of Social Entrepreneurship. Michele has been very instrumental in taking the initiative on the Ashoka Changemaker Campus Consortium at The New School, and will work to further develop it on our campus.

While the term social entrepreneurship itself is so challenging to define, what I find most intriguing about the Ashoka Consortium is that it will help us examine the ways in which the field intersects with so many aspects of our lives and social problems. The partnership will allow us to continue to explore new options for students, faculty and staff from numerous disciplines and departments to deepen and broaden teaching and practice in social entrepreneurship. Additionally, the initiative will allow us to strengthen the university’s contribution to the field both here and abroad, and thus expand our network.

I look forward to increased focus and dedication to social entrepreneurship on our campus – the ideas, thought-provoking discussions, and changes it will produce. I’ll try to keep you updated about developments with Ashoka as we move forward in this new initiative.

Be well-

I hope everyone can join us at the University Convocation on Thursday, September 3rd, where I will present Mary with the award.

Be well-


University Convocation will be held on Thursday, September 3, at 3:00 PM
John Tishman Auditorium
66 West 12th Street
It will be followed by the Annual Back to School Block Party on 12th Street.

Rather than talk about the accomplishments and complexities of the field itself, I thought I would muse just a bit about something that gave me pause as I sat with my fellow panelists, looking out at the room. What was it, I asked myself, that drew a capacity crowd to Wollman Hall on a hot, muggy evening in late July when, arguably, it would have been preferable to be at the beach or in a cool movie theater? I tend to think that there is something very broadly compelling about the notion of people bettering their situations through hard work and some outside investment, primarily in the form of training and capital. In the US in particular, we love a good rags-to-riches story, the bootstrap ideology that underlies microfinance. I love it, too. But I also recognize that it is appropriate for only a limited number of people, and I urge all of us who care about persistent poverty and lack of opportunity to think more creatively—as well as generously—about a broader range of ways in which we could match up hardworking people who have few opportunities with investment that allows them to improve their lives. Helping them start a business is one way, but it is far from the only way.

Links to some of my work in the microfinance field:

"Microenterprise Development in the United States: Current Challenges and New Directions," Economic Development Quarterly 2006 

"Policy Options to Support Entrepreneurship Among Low-Income Americans," New America Foundation, 2005  

“Microenterprise Programs and Women: Entrepreneurship as Individual Empowerment.” Gender and Planning. 2005  

Bootstrap Capital: Microenterprises and the American Poor. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press: 1999. 

In the New York Post article entitled, “Save the Subways” reporter Nicole Gelinas draws attention to labor costs, which alone account for most of the MTA’s financial woes; and she prominently cites the research done by Milano students. One of Gelinas’ examples shows how our students’ research revealed that, while the balance between the MTA and the track workers of the Transit Workers Union is maintained and adequately funded (the track workers earn on an average of $59,000 annually plus benefits and health care, which, as Gelinas’ article implies, should be “enough”), a lot of the needed work doesn’t get done, in spite of it being paid for.

The Milano students, therefore, were successful in identifying at least one potential money saver in this area: namely, that the MTA should schedule the track workers during times when they can actually work. This research is also mentioned in Nicole Gelinas’ article “Transit for Tomorrow” in City Journal (check out the podcast of Gelinas discussing the story). Even Mike Bloomberg, in his latest “Plan to Reform Mass Transit” unveiled on August 3, states that his plan entails altering track workers schedules to achieve cost savings and footnotes this research.

In the second round of Policy Lab this past spring, urban policy students, Jeremy Friedman, Lorran Garrison, Kate Maher, Germaine Simon, Ingolf Boettcher, and Maddi Zachacz, along with advisor Cindy Green, worked with the Manhattan Institute to produce this study of subway track workers, and they discovered that the MTA schedules workers -- for almost a quarter of each workday -- “when no work can take place,” because of union safety rules prohibiting them from working during peak rush-hour times. So track workers end up having to be paid for unnecessary overtime -- resulting, as you might expect, in a significant overage of labor costs.

Thus, it seems obvious that trimming costs could be achieved by having the MTA schedule track workers simply in a more practical (logical) manner. But our Milano students also realized something a bit surprising and, perhaps, eminently controversial: that such changes would require “the abolishment of the eight-hour shift, [which is] an important bargaining agreement for the Transit Workers Union.”

Our own Milano students, through their research, recognized the importance of considering the differing and/or opposing perspectives, allowing for the delicate balance that exists to keep our mass transit system operating. We, on the other hand, -- the rider-customers -- can only hope that it finds a way to keep the service in operation. Thanks to some of our dedicated students, however, there might be a solution in the not-too-distant future.

Case in point: my immediate predecessor, Fred Hochberg, who served as Milano dean from 2004 – 2008, has just been sworn in as the 23rd president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), the official export credit agency of the United States. In this capacity, Hochberg serves as chairman of the board. During the Clinton Administration, from 1998 through 2001, Hochberg served as deputy, then acting administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), where he helped to lead an enhancement of customer service and substantially increased lending to minority and women small-business owners. We are excited to have a member of the Milano community in such an important position in the Obama Administration.

And Edward J.Blakely, who preceded Hochberg as dean, just stepped down after nearly three years as the New Orleans recovery czar in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I saw Ed on a recent trip to New Orleans and he reflected on the opportunities and challenges that position offered. We have brought our expertise to that city through student project teams—the Finance Lab and the Chase Competition—over the past few years, and Ed was always extremely generous with his time, meeting with students and helping connect them to others in city government.

We wish both Fred and Ed the best of luck as they begin their next chapters!

I got to DC in time to have a drink with Ritta McLaughlin, Milano alum Urban Policy 1995 who is also a member of the Dean’s Alumni Council.  McLaughlin recently left Bear Stearns in New York City to return to DC, her hometown, to become the Associate Treasurer for the district.  She is doing fabulously.  I am hoping we can schedule a field trip to DC for students in the fall—we now have so many members of the Milano family  there—alums, board members, and even a former dean!  Fred Hochberg  was just sworn in as head of the Import Export Bank. It’s an exciting time to be in DC.

This past Thursday, I co-facilitated an economic development conference at Rutgers University with Roland Anglin (now at Rutgers but has taught at Milano), Edwin Melendez (now at Hunter College but formerly at Milano), and Norm Glickman (Rutgers).  Doctoral students Anne Visser and Jeannette Rausch also attended.  It was a fantastic gathering of academics, practitioners, and people from the foundation world who gathered to talk about the vexing economic development problems—and opportunities—of our time.

There were people at both the DC and the Rutgers meeting who have worked closely with the new administration or are part of it. What struck me most about my conversations with and the presentations by these people is their openness and willingness to look for new ideas. Gene Sperling gave the keynote at the DC conference and, rather than take questions when he had finished, he asked the audience members to give him ideas to take back to the administration.  There is also an orientation toward working across the agency silos that typically characterize DC.  This kind of interagency work is critical to making radical change happen, and I am so energized by the work that is going on.

What a good time we all had two weeks ago for Milano’s commencement ceremony! We started the day on Thursday, May 21, with a Dean’s Brunch for graduating students and it was terrific. We all sat around a big table eating and talking about Milano—what worked, what we could improve on—and what folks were up to next. In the late afternoon we invited our graduates to bring their friends and families to an Open House in our building. We spread the party between the 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th floors of 72 Fifth Avenue, had chamber music and jazz, champagne and cupcakes. And let me tell you I have never seen so many huge smiles in that building! I always love the Milano ceremony because it gives us a chance to meet our students’ families. We have such a diverse community, and this celebration gives me a real appreciation for where our students come from and the kinds of communities they will affect.

Our ceremony was terrific, too. Chris Ward, executive director of the Port Authority, gave a truly inspired keynote speech. His remarks were wide-ranging but also focused on all of the good work that needs to be done, and will be done by our graduates. Speaking about the architect Cass Gilbert, who designed the Woolworth Building and the George Washington Bridge, Ward urged all of us to answer the question: “What is your George Washington Bridge?” I am still thinking about that question. How would you answer it?

Whereas the Milano ceremony is more “down home,” the university commencement exercises at Madison Square Garden definitely lean more toward pomp and circumstance. New School President Bob Kerrey addressed the graduates and conferred honorary degrees. Dean of Yale Law School, expert on international law, and advocate for human and civil rights Harold Hongju Koh delivered the commencement address. Honorary Degree recipients included philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah; playwright, performer, and activist Eve Ensler; legendary opera singer Regina Resnik; and statesman and philanthropist John C. Whitehead. The student speaker was Miles Strucker, a BA student from Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts.

Milano students showed up in fine form and definitely made the most noise per person of all of the divisions. One of my fellow deans asked me later, “What have you been putting in the water over there at Milano?” Water, indeed—our folks were fired up!

I hope those of you who have graduated will continue to check in with us, let us know what (and how) you are doing, and stay engaged in Milano as we continue to grow and evolve.

I’ve been to New Orleans probably eight times in the past two years, for a variety of reasons. I learn something new every time. This time, my trip was motivated primarily by the group of Milano and Parsons students who presented their final project to Neighborhood Empowerment Network Association , a community-based organization located in the lower ninth ward which, as you probably know, was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.  The students’ work  will be entered into the Chase Community Development Competition, which the New School has won more than any other school, in the fall.   The students presented a terrific piece of work—a design for a new building that will house offices, retail space, and a business incubator—and the client was thrilled.   On Sunday evening, the night before the students’ presentation, we all had dinner and were joined by Ed Blakely, former Milano dean and current Executive Director for Recovery Management in New Orleans, as well as Amber Seely (Urban Policy ’07) and Denise Beal (Urban Policy ’03).

I spent the rest of my time there with Denise, who is working with us to develop deeper relationships with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).  Denise is also a Xavier alum, and we are beginning this work with Xavier and Dillard.  We had terrific meetings with a range of people at both institutions and we are excited about the potential for partnerships that could enrich all of our institutions.

As engaging as New Orleans is, and as much progress has been made since Katrina hit nearly four years ago, there is so much work that remains to be done.  Reading the current issue of The Economist on the flight down, I came across a short article called “City of Sickness ” that discusses how the numbers of chronically sick have risen dramatically since the storm while the medical services industry continues to struggle. Hospitals have closed, and many medical professionals have left the city or commute out of the city to work. Problems like this are invisible to those of us who are temporary guests, but they seriously threaten the viability of this amazing place and deserve our continued attention and best effort.

One of the Milano’s best kept secrets is the great work that our part-time faculty members are doing outside the classroom. Well let this be a secret no longer!

I was particularly excited to find fellow bloggers among this group. Hank Goldstein is consultant for philanthropic organizations and has been with the firm the Oram Group since 1964. Wow! (Don’t worry, Hank, we won’t do the math).  Hank contributes some great posts on Oram Group's blog, commenting on current events and matters of importance to the non-profit community. Interesting stuff!

Another part-time faculty member, Leo Quigley, is a consultant for Housing and Community Development, and you can check out his current work and impressive background at on his website.  He recently added to the online public policy dialogue on thebigmoney.com with his article Run for Shelter, Use the federal TARP money to preserve affordable housing.

Finally, for all you folks who are still searching for summer employment, this article by Lee Miller may be just the advice you need. When Lee Miller isn’t teaching at Milano, he is a career coach and works with a social media company.  This company has developed private professional/social networking tool that was designed so that relatively small not for profits can have their own network and avoid the downsides that come with placing their network on Facebook or LinkedIn. Maybe your current or future organization (wink wink Milano students) could benefit, have a look!

 Let this post be just a sampler of the great work being done by Milano folks. I will keep you posted on other cool projects as I hear about them, and I hope you all will do the same and send stuff my way. 

What a couple of days at Milano!  Last night I opened the annual Bill Green forum, an annualevent that memorializes the late Honorable Bill Green (1929–2002), who represented the East Side of Manhattan in Congress from 1978–1992. Bill Greenwas an independent thinker who frequently crossed the aisle to collaborate on critical issues such as the environment, urban policy, and affordable housing. He served as a trustee of The New School and a board member of Milano. This forum pays tribute to his deep commitment to bipartisanship.

This year’s topic was The Obama Agenda: Overcoming Poverty in New York and the Nation.  And Center for New York City Affairs director Andrew White and his team did a fabulous job of putting together a panel of experts from think tanks, the public sector and nonprofit organizations that serve the poor.  The panel was terrific—lively, provocative, somewhat in your face.  Many of us are incredibly excited to see renewed support forpublic programs to address poverty. It’s been a long time, ladies and gentlemen, since the federal government gave this problem the attention it deserves.  And that means not only $$$, but a willingness to experiment, innovate, test new ideas, tinker with them and try them again. 

At the same time as the Bill Green panel was happening, the Echoing Green competition kicked off with a dinner.  We are hosting the competition this year, and I opened the Friday morning session.  Echoing Green is an organization that supports social entrepreneurs with funding, networks, and other assistance.  This year, nearly 1,000 people applied for fellowships; the final 22 were in our Henry Cohen conference room at 8:30 Friday morning ready to sell the judges on their ideas.  After welcoming the group to Milano, I watched them do their “90 second pitches” tothe rest of the group, and I was completely blown away by the ideas.  One finalist is working on ways to build housing using charcoal in order to lower moisture and decrease disease rates such as tuberculosis. Another is developing technology that will allow people to do volunteer work during down times—like riding the bus or waiting in line—via their smart phones.  Yet another is working on an application that will allow consumers to find out all kinds of information about food products—how is it grown? What are the labor practices of the company?—using, once again—you guessed it—the smart phone.

We are so proud that Maritza Martinez, Milano Non Profit Management alumna from 2005 is a part of the Echoing Green team, and I thank Mary Watson, Management Chair, and John Green, Associate Dean, for making the event a big success.

I was back for one hectic day and then… there was Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.  I had talked about it weeks ago with my 6-year old, C.C., and she was excited about it. The university’s program is for kids 8 and up, so I realized I’d have to keep her occupied all day myself. When I first planned to bring her, I thought it would be good for her to see me at work, to understand better the place that has me leaving the house early so many mornings and has me returning home late so many nights.  My original intention was to keep the day largely clear from meetings, but somehow I allowed one thing and then another to get put on my calendar, and next thing I knew I was pretty scheduled from 8:30 in the morning until 5:30 in the evening.  “Perhaps I shouldn’t bring her,”  I thought the day before as I analyzed the calendar and wondered how she would weather the day. “She’s probably forgotten by now….”  I don’t know if she remembered or not, but I decided to bring her anyway, with an agreement from my husband to take her to lunch while I met with some board members.

It was the right decision.  First off, she was so happy to be with me.  We brought plenty of things for her to do and, for the most part, those I met with welcomed her with warmth and enthusiasm.  As we walked into one meeting that had been scheduled the day before, and I realized that it included several senior university administrators, I wondered how it would go.  It was late afternoon and it had already been a long day.  But she was a trooper—she made a necklace and drew pictures sitting next to me at the large table.  And when she got bored, she just got down on the floor and played with her toy farm animals.  Afterwards, she declared, “I like your work, Mama, but that meeting was pretty boring.”

It seems that we are particularly adept in this country at separating work and family, and that work occupies an increasingly greater amount of parents’ time.  A few weeks ago, I clipped a great photo from the New York Times.  The caption read: “Two Votes for Denmark: Hanne Dahl, with her baby, voted Thursday at a session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.” The photo shows Dahl sitting at a table with other legislators, and with both piles of official papers and her baby on the table in front of her.  I am also thinking about a guest lecture I did at Columbia in the fall shortly after becoming dean of Milano.  It was a course on women and leadership, and several of the women in the class wanted to talk to me about how to balance work and family. It’s difficult, even in a relatively forgiving field like academia.  There is no magic balance—some who study these issues have taken to calling it “work life blend” rather than “work life balance,” in tacit recognition that balance is elusive at best.

I know many of you have children and are also workers and students.  How do you navigate these waters?

I leave you with a link to an audio clip from a radio piece my good friend Anne Stuhldreher wrote for public radio—it was broadcast this past fall.

Did anyone read the April 12 New York Times article in the Week inReview section titled, “With Finance Disgraced, Which Career Will Be King?”Really interesting piece.  It talksabout how smart college students tend to follow labor market cues that signaljobs that will pay well and offer prestige.  How during the Depression civil engineering was popular, andhow people flooded the science and technology fields during the cold war.

In recent years (certainlysince I graduated from college in 1986), Wall Street has beckoned many of thebest and the brightest.   Itoffered status, glamour and power. And oh the bonuses!  UntilSeptember 2008, when suddenly the golden paving of the street began to wearthin.  Job losses in the financialsector have been enormous, and the New York City economy has been hitparticularly hard.

So, the article asks, what willbe the next status sector?  Some are betting on areas that offer deeper gratification than thepromise of wealth.  Many morepeople are giving non profit sector work closer consideration than they mighthave five or ten years ago.  Applicationsto non profit management and public policy programs like ours are up.  We are certainly pleased about that,not just because it’s good for the school but because the shift portends animportant cultural shift.

And there is a greaterrecognition that an understanding of all three of the sectors—public, private,and non profit—is key to succeeding in today’s labor market. The Times article cites a young woman who isgraduating from business school and considering two public sector jobs.  “Am I going to be a federal employeefor the next 30 years? Probably not,” the woman says. “But public-privatepartnerships are going to be increasingly important in almost any field. Andthe timing is right to do this.”

I had the opportunity to chatabout the importance of cross sectoral understanding  yesterday over lunch with Milano alum Mario Marin in SanFrancisco. Marin graduated from Milano in 1995 with a degree in urbanpolicy.  He won a prestigiousPresidential Management Internship and went to DC for two years, after which hereturned to his hometown of Los Angeles and worked in local government.  When the candidate he supported formayor did not win, Marin decided it was time to get out.  He landed a job with Grainger doinggovernment sales and says that his understanding of public sector culture iscritical to his success in the private sector.

 I, for one, feel energized by the changes in Washingtoninitiated with the November elections. And I know I’m not alone. At Milano, weare seeing an increase in the number of people who are changing careers—sometimesby choice and sometimes by necessity. This time around, they tell us, they want to make a difference. 

Wow.  I justfinished a day—spent with many other Milano colleagues and one from Lang—at aworkshop run by Catherine Orenstein who founded the Op-Ed Project.  And let me tell you, it was a day wellspent.  Orenstein started theProject after learning about the dearth of women who publish on the Op-Edpages, and decided to do something game changing.  About 85% of what you read on the Op-Ed pages is written bymen, which means they control some pretty important conversations about what’simportant.  It turns out that atleast one reason women get only 15% of that very valuable real estate is thatthey are responsible for only 15% of the submissions.

I read about Orenstein in a New York Times piece a year or so ago in which her work was profiled.   I had just come off of a yearspent as a Visiting Research Fellow at The New America Foundation in DC; likethe other fellows, part of my charge was to get my ideas out into places thatlots of people read.  However, mostof the other fellows were journalists, not academics like me.  And I had no clue about how to write anOp-Ed piece.  In the end, I wasvery successful in writing academic journal articles and policy briefs, but Idid not get a single Op-Ed published. So I was pretty excited when I read the piece in the Times.  But I wasn’t able to figure out how to tap into whatOrenstein was doing.

Fast forward a year later, when I spent a year as a ResearchFellow at the Center for Work Life Policy.  When I logged on to the computer in my new office for thefirst time, it said “Welcome Catherine Orenstein” and asked me for mypassword.  The name rang abell.  “Does Catherine Orensteinwork here?” I asked.  It turns outshe had done some work for CWLP.  Igot her contact information, and ultimately contacted her soon after I becamedean.  I wanted to bring herexpertise to Milano faculty and staff.

And today more than a dozen of us spent the day withher.  We were women and men (butmore women, which is a requirement of the Project given the stats), faculty andstaff, senior and junior.  Welearned that we are all experts and that we have something to say.  Something important.  All of us left the workshop at the endof the day with a draft of an Op-Ed piece.  And I, for one, left feeling energized to write and to workharder at figuring out how my ideas can become part of the public debate onissues about which I care deeply. Stay tuned—you may be seeing a slew of very public work coming out ofMilano over the next few weeks…

I had just finished reading (well, almost finished) Novogratz’s recently published book, The Blue Sweater:  Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World.  The book (which, incidentally has its own Facebook page —I didn’t know inanimate objects could have Facebook pages, but I suppose that just dates me)—is part memoir, part philosophy, part theory of how to change the game when it comes to solving the poverty problem.  It gets you inside the head of someone who really wants to make a difference and realized she would need to change the rules in order to do it.  

Reading the book, I related to Novogratz in several ways—we are close in age and so our journeys have been of similar lengths.  I’m sure if you asked her, she would tell you that when she graduated from college she never would have dreamed she’d be where she is today.  She started out on a path and then let the world and its opportunities guide her.  She made choices that might now seem rational to the outside world—leaving the ladder of investment banking to go to Africa and do development work, for example.  I, too, started out in investment banking, and never imagined I’d be the dean of a policy and management school 23 years later. My father, who died three years ago this month, always told me: “Surround yourself with good people.”  And I have based so many choices in my life on that advice.  It’s clear that Novogratz did the same.  She made sure she had the tools she needed in order to effect change, but she also made sure to create space for her heart, her gut.

Novogratz came up with an idea—the Acumen Fund—that is neither pure business nor pure philanthropy although it draws on both.  It is a true example of integrative thinking in that it shines a light on the fact that our old categories for thinking about global issues simply don’t work.  We need new standards for measuring success, and a new language for thinking about issues and for crafting interventions.  I’m convinced that it is Novogratz’s openness that has enabled her to imagine a new way forward.  In the book, she recounts how, early on in the Acumen Fund’s emergence, a mentor nudged her to take some risks.  “Let the work teach you,” he said.  It’s clear that Novogratz listened to that advice and has not stopped learning from her experience.  What has your work taught you?

Why is this story important for a school of management and policy?  To this day, the tragic events of that day stand as an important reminder to those in the labor movement.  The fire helped to catalyze a process to set in place new and urgently needed management practices and policies to protect workers.  And although much progress has been made on these fronts, much work remains to be done, particularly with respect to immigrant workers who are so often voiceless.

Our job is to remember.  My good friend Audrey participated in a project last week in which volunteers like Audrey went to the addresses where the victims of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire had lived.  They wrote the names of the victims in chalk in front of these addresses, and stayed through the day to tell the stories of these people to passersby . When Audrey told me about what she had done, I was struck by the creativity of this way of keeping the story alive, and of individuating the victims.  They were daughters, mothers, sisters, friends, people with lives and stories.  These stories must continue to inspire us to do our good work, to move the world forward another inch in a positive direction.

Today (Sunday, when I’m writing this) is World Water Day. Water, like so many things those of us who live a privileged life have, is too easy to take for granted. And if you think it’s hard to get adults to grasp how critical this issue is, try teaching a 4- and a 6- year old. My kids love nothing more than splashing around in the bathtub. “Fill it more up!” they’ll shout. And when I’m at my wit’s end trying to figure out how to entertain them, nothing works better than a big pot of water and some plastic cups and toy dinosaurs. But today we talked to them about how so many children do not have clean water to bathe in, to drink or to cook their food. “Why?” they ask. Try answering that question.

Figuring out how to conserve water, and how to get clean water to all people, is a huge and basic policy and management challenge. Here’s an excerpt from the World Health Organization:

“Each year more than 1 billion of our fellow human beings have little choice but to resort to using potentially harmful sources of water. This perpetuates a silent humanitarian crisis that kills some 3900 children every day and thwarts progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The consequences of our collective failure to tackle this problem are the dimmed prospects for the billions of people locked in a cycle of poverty and disease.

The root of this underlying catastrophe lies in these plain, grim facts: 4 of every 10 people in the world do not have access to even a simple pit latrine and nearly 2 in 10 have no source of safe drinking-water. To help end this appalling state of affairs, the MDGs include a specific target (number 10) to cut in half, by 2015 the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking-water and basic sanitation. In addition, the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Water and Sanitation recently recognized that integrated development and management of water resources are crucial to the success or failure of all the MDGs, as water is central to the livelihood systems of the poor.”

If you’d like to learn more about World Water Day, go to www.worldwaterday.org. And do what you can, even if your actions seem small, to use less water. Remember to turn off the water when you’re brushing your teeth and to keep a cold pitcher of water in the fridge so you don’t need to let it run to get cold enough to drink. Or better yet, share a shower.

This is good news, because CDFIs are small but essential players in the financial services landscape, and they have gotten close to no media attention during this crisis when financial institutions are very much in the news. Some worry that, given the difficulties in obtaining funding, this sector might be on the verge of collapse. CDFIs serve people and neighborhoods that are generally not well served by mainstream financial institutions such as banks. They provide an alternative to informal and costly providers of financial services in low-income communities such as loan sharks, check cashing outlets, pawn shops and rent to own businesses.

Here is an excerpt from a post on the community development banking listserv, to which I subscribe:

"This latest announcement that infuses some of our hardest hit communities with much needed capital further demonstrates Treasury's commitment to swift, efficient and effective implementation of the various components of the Administration's comprehensive economic agenda,” said Treasury Secretary Geithner. "The Recovery Act is enabling more funds to flow to these community-based lenders that are responsibly providing financing to help small businesses, creating needed jobs and saving homes in low-income areas across the country that have been hit hard by this economic crisis."

The Recovery Act provides an additional $90 million in CDFI Program Financial Assistance (FA) and Technical Assistance (TA) awards; $8 million for the Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) program; and $3 billion in additional tax credit authority for the New Markets Tax Credit program (FY2008 and FY2009). The total FY2009 funding available for FA/TA is now $145 million and for NACA it is $14.5 million. The CDFI Fund stated that it plans to award all the Recovery Act funds in less than 90 days and will begin disbursing the awards within 120 days.

"I commend Secretary Geithner and the Treasury Department for moving quickly to implement these innovative programs to help underserved communities," said Vice President Biden. "They are exactly what the President and I had in mind when we put forth the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act."

In brief, the CDFI Fund will re-open its 2009 CDFI Program and NACA Program award rounds to enable additional applicants to apply and will offer current applicants the opportunity to request larger awards. Applicants that did apply under the initial FY 2009 award rounds will have the opportunity to increase the amounts they requested in their applications to as much as $2 million under the CDFI Program and $750,000 under the NACA Program. As a reminder, the Recovery Act waives the matching funds requirement as well as the general requirement that no single awardee (or its affiliates) can receive more than $5 million from the CDFI Fund over a three-year period.

For NMTC, the CDFI Fund will allocate $3 billion of tax credit authority as follows: $1.5 billion to CDEs that applied for allocation authority under the 2008 NMTC allocation round but did not receive a 2008 allocation; and $1.5 billion to CDEs that apply for allocation authority under the 2009 NMTC allocation round. Note this is in addition to the $3.5 billion already allocated for FY2009.

If you have applied for the FY2009 round, the CDFI Fund may contact you for additional information.

Reporting: Reporting requirements are still under development, but be prepared that the requirements will be extensive! Please review the Office of Management and Budget’s memorandum regarding potential reporting requirements:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/memoranda_fy2009/m09-10.pdf

To view the implementation plan, go to

http://www.cdfifund.gov/recovery/implementationplan.pdf

New Program Announced

The CDFI Fund is also planning additional support to CDFIs and Native CDFIs. “The CDFI Fund is pleased to announce additional support for CDFIs during these critical times. While CDFIs are united by the challenges they face, too often they lack the same level of access to resources they need to meet these challenges. In the coming months, the CDFI Fund will unveil a new capacity-building initiative that will provide high-level training, outreach, and intensive, one-on-one technical assistance directly to CDFIs and Native CDFIs.”

I can say from my own experience that receiving that award was one of my proudest moments as an educator—to have been nominated by my students, and to see my students and colleagues in the audience when I received the award. It felt good. Please join me in congratulating Nidhi, Mary and Aida on their nominations.

Be well-

l.

What a great lecture Myron Orfield gave on Wednesday night! Orfield is passionate about racial disparities, and he has devoted much of his life to thinking about how public policy could be used to provide more equal opportunities to all groups. His lecture touched on issues related to schools and housing, and he advocated regional solutions to making progress on these problems.

I first read Orfield’s work over a decade ago, in 1998, shortly after his first book Metropolitics had come out. I was teaching a course on urban poverty theory and policy and his novel way of mapping patterns of segregation and poverty across metropolitan regions struck me. It struck a lot of other people, too, and his innovative use of maps has been adopted by progressive policy makers and planners in many metro areas who are trying to make some headway against the vexing problems associated with persistent urban poverty. Fast forward 10 years to last spring when I found myself on a panel with Orfield, David Rusk, and Manuel Pastor—real heavy hitters in these areas. I looked at the great minds sitting on either side of me and felt like I’d really made it as a researcher—I particularly admire the way each of these thinkers has connected their research to practical solutions that can make a difference.

Faculty members Darrick Hamilton and Alex Schwartz (along with Tom Wright of the Regional Plan Association) were provocative respondents to Orfield’s talk, and a lively discussion ensued with audience members afterward.

Here’s a link to my  introductory remarks , and one to the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota, which Orfield directs.

I feel fortunate that the crisis has not affected me or my family in such a direct way—unless you count the hit my retirement account, or my kids’ college accounts have taken.  But I know I am the exception. And I know our students are struggling—in so many ways.  Some do not have the luxury of being able to pursue a graduate degree.  Others are challenged with how to continue.  Those who are graduating face anxiety about the job market. 

And all of us are working hard to understand the forces driving the crisis and wondering when it will hit bottom. Last semester, in response to student demand, we hosted a workshop with experts to talk about what was going on, and the policy choices we face as a nation.  We’re working on another workshop given that the environment, and the policy responses, continues to shift.  What are your burning questions?  What would it help you to understand?  What kinds of people would you like to hear from?  Please comment here, or email me, and we’ll try to accommodate your requests.

In the meantime, do what you can to stay apprised of what’s happening. One of my favorite sources of information on this topic is the Planet Money podcast produced by NPR , which comes out two or three times a week.  Check it out, and let us know how you want us to address these issues here at Milano.

I’m in Chicago, attending the Urban Affairs Association annual meeting—Alex Schwartz is here , too, and a lot of other cool people who have devoted much of their lifework to thinking about cities and figuring out how to make them work better for everyone.  I’ve been to some terrific panels, eaten some amazing food, and zipped over to the Field Museum to purchase my share of dinosaur paraphernalia for my kids—the guilt booty that working parents employ to keep themselves out of trouble when they travel more than their children would like. There was a reception this evening at the Chicago Cultural Center which, if you have not been there, is completely worth the trip.  What an awesome building  in a city that is known for its awesome buildings!

There is a real sense of optimism and energy at this conference this year, and this is remarkable given the financial crisis and how hard it is hitting our cities.  It’s so clear that the hope stems from Washington, where this city’s most famous resident recently has put a stake in the ground.  It has been so long since this country had any kind of national urban policy.  So long.  So I was pretty excited when, in December, the Obama administration announced that it would create a White House Office of Urban Affairs.  Imagine that.  Somehow I missed the February 19 executive order announcing the creation of this office.  Here’s an excerpt:

“About 80 percent of Americans live in urban areas, and the economic health and social vitality of our urban communities are critically important to the prosperity and quality of life for Americans.  Vibrant cities spawn innovation, economic growth, and cultural enrichment through the businesses, universities, and civic, cultural, religious, and nonprofit institutions they attract.  Forward-looking policies that encourage wise investment and development in our urban areas will create employment and housing opportunities and make our country more competitive, prosperous, and strong.  In the past, insufficient attention has been paid to the problems faced by urban areas and to coordinating the many Federal programs that affect our cities.  A more comprehensive approach is needed, both to develop an effective strategy for urban America and to coordinate the actions of the many executive departments and agencies whose actions impact urban life.”

It seems like common sense, right?  And yet lifting up the urban agenda, putting it front and center, seems almost radical.  I think it’s also terrific that New York City’s own Adolfo Carrion will run this office.  Carrion served two terms as Bronx Borough President.  Several years ago he was a client for a Milano Lab team that I advised—he was a terrific client.

I am choosing to be optimistic at this time but recognize that it will not be easy to forge an urban agenda in these times.  I’d love to know what you think—is this office a good idea?  What should be the priorities of Obama and Carrion when it comes to urban America?

Second, recent grad Stephen Krasner (’08) is about to announce his candidacy for Town Supervisor (Mayor) in the Town of Newburgh, NY, which is located an hour north of NYC in Orange County's Hudson Valley region.

Krasner writes “I just wanted to thank the School for my time there as it has had a profound impact on my decision to pursue this path forward.”  Rock on, Stephen!  We will share Krasner’s website with you when it goes public.  Good luck!

In addition, we have a Community Development Finance Lab team currently working on a terrific project with Unity/Common Ground New Orleans—the work has to do with making policy recommendations around permanent supportive housing. And Heather Sheridan, a Milano Urban Policy student in her final semester is also doing interesting work in New Orleans.  As a consultant to the Initiative for Regional and Community Transformation (IRCT) at Rutgers University, Heather traveled to New Orleans in January to meet with housing and workforce development specialists, advocates and developers.  These meetings proved productive as she discussed her project which is an investigation into the prevelance of job vacancies still existing in New Orleans.

Last year, between working on Chase and attending a couple of terrific conferences in New Orleans, I also got bitten by the bug and wanted to do my part to lend some assistance to that city.  Like most of the students I traveled there with last year, I got completely drawn in by the people, the culture, the music, the food (the food!) . . . and the enormous need. I spent a week in January with Urban Policy student Leanne Roncolato studying an historic retail strip—Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard—that no longer has much retail on it.  Located in the Central City neighborhood that is now best known for its high crime rate, OC Haley Boulevard was once known as the “black Canal Street.”  We’re working on understanding how it can be revitalized without turning ownership over to outsiders.

In January, a big group of us had dinner—the Finance Labgroup with instructor Blaise Rastello (Urban Policy ’04), Heather, Milano alum Amber Seely (Urban Policy ’07—now working for Volunteers of America Greater New Orleans), Leanne and me.  And I was so proud of the way we are bringing so much of our energy and our skills to a city that deserves this kind of focused attention.

We run a course called the Community Development Practicum that culminates in the Chase Competition. The competition was held in New York and run by Dennis Derryck for nearly all of the years that it has taken place. Last year it moved to New Orleans, given the enormous need there, and I had the privilege of supervising the Milano part of the Chase team. It was honestly the most exhilarating, exhausting, and rewarding teaching experience I have ever had. The team worked on a mixed-use, mixed-income housing project on a sliver of high ground near the river. Check out the amazing work the Parsons and Milano students did. Last year we came in second, behind MIT, and this year we are back in New Orleans again. Stay tuned for progress reports on how this year’s team is progressing, and to hear about how the ground-breaking for the Fortune Society went.

Thanks and be well,

l.

Well, we do a lot of that at Milano already—particularly in our Urban Policy and Nonprofit Management programs—and we are poised to do more. We are currently searching for a new faculty member in the area of social entrepreneurship, and four students from Dennis Derryck’s fall ’08 course are finalists in the William James Foundation Competition on Social Entrepreneurship. Also, have you heard about Cleanup Soap? Cleanup soap is an actual product launched by students who took Dennis’ class a few years back and generated the idea there. The soap is the size and shape of an actual landmine, and $2 from the sale of each bar goes to de-mining organizations. (It’s also really terrific soap and comes in Rosemary Mint and Coconut).

We currently have a group of faculty working on understanding what’s going on in the area of social enterprise and social entrepreneurship (which Columbia sees as a subset of social enterprise) at other universities. I’d love to know your thoughts, such as whether you would be interested in more courses in this area.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out the Skoll Foundation’s website  and blog. There’s a great piece that Roger Martin wrote for the Skoll Foundation that defines the field. Check it out, and let me know what you think

Thanks and be well.

l.

______________________________

Almost every Wednesday, 12:10 pm to 1:30 pm there is a Brown Bag Faculty seminar in the Henry Cohen Conference Room, 72 5th Avenue – 3rd floor. Students are always invited and welcome to attend. We will make sure you are alerted and encourage you to come to hear about things that interest you as well as learn the challenges of research and how to deal with them. Following are the seminars for the spring semester.

February 11: Nidhi Srinivas, Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy, “A Critical Perspective on Nongovernmental Action.”

February 18: Carlos Ornelas, (Visiting Professor) Teacher’s College, Columbia University and Professor at Universidad Autonomo de Mexico, “Politics, Power, and Classrooms: A Critique of the New Federalism.”

February 25    Teaching roundtable:  “Moving beyond the basics of Black Board: pedagogical issues, innovations, benefits, and pitfalls” (with Jim O’Connor, Academic Director of Online Learning, The New School)

March 25   Todd Sorensen, University of California, Riverside, “Occupational Response of Native Born Workers: Impact of Immigration on the Wage Structure of Local Labor Markets.”  (Co-hosted Milano and SCEPA, 72 5th Ave, 12:30 to 2pm)

April 1  Erica Groshen, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, “Turbulent Firms, Turbulent Wages?” (Co-hosted Milano and SCEPA, 72 5th Ave, 12:30 to 2pm)

Whether or not that was true for any of those deans, I wanted to figure out how to make it not true for me.  I wanted to create some ways to keep a pulse on what’s happening on the ground at Milano.  How could I communicate—easily and regularly—with our stakeholders about what I’m doing and thinking about? The obvious answer was to use some of the tools I’m sure most of you use on a regular basis.  Didn’t technology play a big role in the Obama campaign?  The almost daily emails I receive from Barack, Michelle, Joe, and David Plouffe, certainly create a sense of connection. I am not exactly a luddite, but many of my friends and family members find it a bit funny that I have done research on the digital divide given my own sluggishness when it comes to tech stuff.  Let’s just say I’m not what you’d call an early adopter.  So this feels like a big leap for me. And an exciting one.

I want this blog to be a space for sharing ideas, making connections, and staying in touch.  I want it to be interactive. And it is only one of many ways I intend to stay connected.  I am updating my website and creating a Facebook page.  On the low tech end of the spectrum, I’m working with Sue Morris to schedule some informal events so that I can meet with students.  I’ll be visiting classes.  And I invite you to come see me during my office hours—Tuesdays 3 – 5 pm.  Let me know what works and what doesn’t, and if you have any better ideas for how we can connect.

Thanks and be well-

l.