Community ownership models are advancing equitable development in Philly and beyond; learn more and explore the strategy for your community.
Thursday, March 23rd, 4:00pm-6:00pm | Kensington Corridor Trust – 3400 J Street, Unit G12
Join PACDC’s Community Development Leadership Institute and LISC Philly for an in-person session exploring models of community ownership of commercial spaces. We will hear from Julia Duranti-Martinez, the author of LISC’s recent report Commercial Community Ownership as a Strategy for Just Development, and Adriana Abizadeh, Executive Director of the Kensington Corridor Trust here in Philadelphia.
Participants will learn more about the use of community ownership in commercial spaces to advance equitable and racially just development in Philadelphia and other cities, via a talk and opportunity to pose questions and discuss with the speakers, and there will be space for participants to explore how these models might be replicated in other neighborhoods and communities.
Light refreshments will be provided.
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Discounted and free tickets are available for this workshop. Please email Joanna at jwinchester@pacdc.org for a promo code, no questions asked.
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Speakers:
Adriana Abizadeh
Executive Director, Kensington Corridor Trust
Adriana Abizadeh is the Executive Director of the Kensington Corridor Trust (KCT) in Philadelphia. The mission, duty and purpose of the KCT is to utilize collective ownership to direct investments on the corridor that preserve culture and affordability while building neighborhood power and wealth in Kensington. The KCT supports sustainable corridor development through thoughtful real estate acquisition, community engagement, broad local ownership, small business lending and technical assistance, and safety and health programming. KCT’s vision is that Kensington Avenue is a safe, healthy, and socioeconomically diverse commercial corridor with accessible opportunities for the existing and future residents of Kensington.
All of Adriana’s professional working experience has been in the nonprofit sector and she is passionate about serving others. Adriana has a B.A. from Rutgers University in Political Science with a minor in Security Intelligence and Counter Terrorism. She also has an M.S. in Public Policy from Drexel University.
Julia Duranti-Martinez
Program Officer for Community Research and Impact, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
Julia Duranti-Martinez works with LISC’s national Community Research & Impact team, where she supports collaborative research, program development, and capacity-building activities, with a focus on community ownership and housing justice. Prior to joining LISC, Julia coordinated citywide community land trust capacity building and coalition organizing at New Economy Project. She previously worked as a language justice interpreter in Austin, TX; carried out collaborative community research focused on gender, resilience, and community development in the Dominican Republic; and worked in Colombia providing popular education and analysis on the effects of U.S. policies and accompanying Black, Indigenous, and rural communities resisting displacement. Julia serves as the Board Chair of the East Harlem/El Barrio Community Land Trust and is an affiliated instructor with the City College Community Change Studies program. She holds an M.S. in Community and Regional Planning and M.A. in Latin American Studies from The University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in Anthropology and International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame.