Living Cities

05/08/2026

What does it take to move from strong partnerships to a real pipeline of investment-ready businesses?

That’s the focus of our next webinar in the Rewiring Capital for Strong Local Economies series.

Join Living Cities for From Partnership to Pipeline: How Cities Build the Deal Flow That Makes Capital Work, a conversation about how cities can intentionally build stronger pathways for small businesses and entrepreneurs, particularly in immigrant and underinvested communities.

This session will explore how cities align technical assistance, procurement, and capital access strategies to help more people move onto economic mobility pathways. We’ll hear from leaders in El Paso, Detroit, and St. Paul about what it looks like to build trust, respond to disruption, and create systems that help businesses become capital-ready.

Featured speakers include:

Mirella Tamayo, City of El Paso
Paul Jones, ProsperUS Detroit
Marcus Owens, City of St. Paul

This conversation is for city leaders, capital providers, community partners, and anyone interested in building more inclusive local economies.

The webinar takes place on May 14th, 2026, 1p.m. - 2p.m. EST.

Register now and join us.

City of Saint Paul - Government ProsperUs Detroit

05/04/2026

04/21/2026

Cities don’t just govern… they can connect the current ⚡

We’re back with Part 3 of our Rewiring Capital for Strong Local Economies webinar series—and this one gets to the heart of how real change moves: through relationships, trust, and capital that actually reaches the people building our neighborhoods.

The City as Capital Connectors: Partnering with Community Lenders to Build an Inclusive Economy explores how local governments can move beyond policy into partnership—working alongside CDFIs, MDIs, credit unions, and other mission-driven lenders already doing the work on the ground.

📅 April 22, 2026
⏰ 1:00–2:00 PM ET

This session brings together leaders who are actively rewiring how capital flows in their cities:

Filomania Falcucci, MBA PMP (City of Boston, CAAP)
Amine Benali (Local Enterprise Assistance Fund)
Liam Kelly Fleming (City of Philadelphia)
Santiago Carrillo (Living Cities)

Together, they’ll share how cities can deepen partnerships with community lenders to unlock funding, expand opportunity, and build more inclusive small business ecosystems.

What you’ll walk away with:

✅ Practical strategies to strengthen partnerships with community-based lenders
✅ Ways to leverage public resources for greater impact
✅ Real-world examples of cities acting as powerful capital connectors
✅ This is part three of a six-part journey—but each session stands on its own as a blueprint for action.

If you’re thinking about how capital actually reaches small businesses in your city… this conversation is for you.

👉 Register today and join us.
👉 And if someone in your network is doing this work, send this their way.

04/17/2026

Capital is not the constraint. Relationships are.

Across cities, funding is available, but too often it sits idle because the connections between people, institutions, and sectors aren’t strong enough to move it where it’s needed most. That gap isn’t accidental. It’s structural.

At Living Cities, we’ve seen firsthand that trust, coordination, and alignment aren’t “nice to have.” They are the infrastructure that determines whether capital flows at all.

That’s why we’ve submitted a session for :
Capital Absorption Depends on Relationships: Building the Missing Infrastructure

Led by Norris Williams and Santiago Carrillo, this session will share real examples from Chicago and Midwest cities and offer practical tools to help leaders strengthen the relationships that unlock capital in their own communities.

If this resonates with you, we’d appreciate your support.

👉 Vote here:
https://socapglobal.com/session-idea/capital-absorption-depends-on-relationships-building-the-missing-infrastructure/

It takes less than a minute. Enter your email, click vote, done.

And feel free to share with your network—every vote helps bring this conversation to the stage.

SOCAP - Social Capital Markets

Capital exists, but many communities lack the coordinated relationships needed to absorb and deploy it effectively. Living Cities has seen that trust and cross-sector alignment are not secondary factors, they are the infrastructure that determines whether capital moves at all. Through examples from....

03/31/2026

Real change happens when capital meets community.

Through efforts like the Living Cities Blended Catalyst Fund, we’ve seen what’s possible when capital is intentionally directed to unlock opportunity and back community-driven investment and growth.

In St. Louis, that approach is part of a broader shift in which entrepreneurs are building, scaling, and creating wealth from within their own communities. This kind of investment is shaped by a broader commitment to equity and opportunity. Under Mayor Cara Spencer's leadership, St. Louis is helping set that tone.

This Women’s History Month, we’re recognizing the leaders and founders driving that vision and change forward, including Mayor Spencer and Charli Cooksey, founder of WEPOWER.

03/30/2026

Los Angeles is changing who gets a seat at the table, starting with contracts.

Through Living Cities' City Accelerator, the city confronted that reality head-on, finding that only a fraction of professional services spending was reaching minority-owned businesses. In response, Los Angeles appointed its first-ever Chief Procurement Officer, building a more transparent, data-driven contracting system designed to open the door for more businesses to compete for city contracts.

Mayor Karen Bass has carried that same commitment to equity across her entire administration. In her first year, she declared a state of emergency on homelessness, moved more than 21,000 people into housing or shelter, and launched policies to accelerate affordable housing development citywide.

This Women's History Month, we celebrate Mayor Bass and the lasting impact of her leadership on residents across Los Angeles.

03/26/2026

The most sustainable and impactful change happens when communities are involved in the planning and the work.

Through Living Cities' City Accelerator, Seattle made that belief central to how city government works. Under Mayor Katie B. Wilson — a coalition builder long before she took office — that commitment continues to shape her leadership every day.

This Women's History Month, we celebrate Mayor Wilson for her dedication to putting residents first and making community engagement central to how Seattle governs.

03/18/2026

The City of Philadelphia is restructuring how contracting works from the inside.

Through Living Cities' City Accelerator, Philadelphia identified what was keeping minority-owned businesses from competing for city contracts and took action. Under Mayor Cherelle L. Parker's leadership, the city has created new contracting policies and launched the Office of Business Impact and Economic Advancement to help more local businesses get in the door.

In recognition of Women’s History Month, we celebrate Mayor Parker and the impact her leadership is having on businesses and communities across Philadelphia.

03/17/2026

Miami’s corridors are powered by culture, resilience, and community-led solutions.

This chapter of the B3 series recaps what collaboration looks like when it’s grounded in place, culture, and community voice.

Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/s331V6IQTw0

03/17/2026

The Breaking Barriers to Business (B3) initiative is tackling one of the biggest hurdles facing small businesses: access to commercial ownership. Through the Commercial Acquisition Fund, entrepreneurs gain support to pursue real estate—creating stability today and opportunity for generations to come.

Watch the full docu-video: https://youtu.be/s331V6IQTw0