Urban Strategies, Inc.

06/11/2026

Join us next week for the upcoming webinar, Mixed-Income Communities: Opportunities, Tensions, and the Future of Place-Based Investment, on June 17, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. CST. Register now: bit.ly/4tg5WXj

Through a candid, evidence-informed conversation, our curated panel of practitioners and researchers will unpack what must change in policy, financing, and community engagement to ensure mixed-income communities work for everyone, not just in theory, but in practice.

Our Moderator:
➡️ Donovan Duncan, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Urban Strategies, Inc. Donovan is a national nonprofit leader and engineer of opportunity. He leads USI through the development, testing, and implementation of public-private strategies that can be scaled across the country. Donovan brings over 20 years of learned experience in the community and economic development and housing industry. His lived experience, growing up in public housing, further enhances his understanding of why housing is at the nexus of sustaining community impact.

Our Panelists:
➡️ Richard Baron, Co-founder and Chairman of McCormack Baron Companies. The firm, founded in 1973, redevelops areas of concentrated poverty into economically-integrated communities. The firm has been closely involved in the formation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOPE VI and Choice Neighborhood Programs and, under those programs, has revitalized over 30 former public housing sites into thriving, economically-integrated, safe communities.
➡️ Dominique Blom, former General Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). She led 1600 dedicated public servants to carry out a range of programs for low-income families, including the public housing program, Housing Choice Voucher program, Choice Neighborhoods and programs that serve Native Americans, totaling more than $30 billion in annual funding.
➡️ Calvin Johnson, Ph.D., Dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University. Prior to his current position, Johnson served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research, Evaluation, and Monitoring for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Policy Development and Research. In his capacity as Deputy Assistant Secretary, he served as one of the principal advisors to HUD leadership on research, demonstration, and evaluation activities.
➡️ Mark Joseph, Ph.D. is the Leona Bevis and Marguerite Haynam Professor of Community Development at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. His research focuses on promoting urban equity and inclusion. He is the Founding Director of NP3: Nurturing People. Power. Place., formerly the National Initiative on Mixed-Income Communities. He hosts the podcast Bending the Arc.

⭐ Register now: bit.ly/4tg5WXj

06/10/2026

This week we joined with resident leaders and strategic partners to co-create a playbook around systems change. This playbook is rooted in lived experience and centered on dignity, safety, stability, opportunity, and belonging. We shared barriers and solutions across housing, economic mobility, and education, focusing on long-term change that improves whole systems and shifts power to the greater communities we collectively serve.

Thank you to resident leaders, cross-sector partners, the City of Norfolk Government, RahJazz, and Wells Fargo, and all who were able to join us in this urgent work.

06/09/2026

This is what powerful, philanthropic partnership looks like impacting not just the lives of individuals, but infusing the power needed for economic development to reach every community.

Read our official press release to understand how this Wells Fargo powered challenge will impact families:

Urban Strategies Inc. (USI) is advancing efforts to expand economic mobility, entrepreneurship, and community wealth building through a new initiative supported by a $1.2 million grant from Wells Fargo.

06/08/2026

This week, we’re answering the call by convening partners across the nation to co-create urgent steps that build on our collective future. This convening is about driving what comes next.

We’re meeting in the City of Norfolk Government for this powerful moment. Norfolk is more than a host, it is a living reflection of what becomes possible when community is centered, protected, and allowed to lead.

Together, we carry a shared understanding that fragmented approaches across housing, education, economic mobility, and community development have left too many behind. That’s why we are so grateful for Wells Fargo and their belief in our vision.

At this convening, we will honor what is working, challenge what no longer serves, and co-create ideas that can build our collective future—pathways rooted in dignity and designed for lasting, generational change.

06/04/2026

In two weeks, we will host the final webinar in our Investing in Places, Investing in People series! This upcoming webinar, Mixed-Income Communities: Opportunities, Tensions, and the Future of Place-Based Investment, will be hosted on June 17, 2026, from 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. CST.

Mixed-income communities have long been positioned as a transformative strategy for neighborhood revitalization, promising economic assimilation, improved outcomes, and shared prosperity. But do mixed-income communities truly deliver on their promise?

This forward-looking webinar confronts both the potential and the complexity of mixed-income development. We will explore what decades of research tell us about economic mobility, social cohesion, displacement, and long-term neighborhood outcomes. Just as importantly, we will examine the tensions that continue to shape this work.

➡️ Register now: bit.ly/4tg5WXj

06/01/2026

Thank you so much to the for awarding the CARE Award to our leader of the USI Columbus team, Tifani Kendrick!

This award to Tifani is well-deserved, recognizing her outstanding work with Columbus CARE and her leadership around trauma-informed care. USI is honored to have her on our team and celebrate this incredible accomplishment with her.

05/29/2026

Mental Health Matters.

From February through May, our senior residents at Emerald Vista were positively impacted by the USI Puerto Rico team, students from the Office of Women’s Affairs of the Municipality of Caguas, and doctoral students from the highly regarded Psychology Doctoral Program at Carlos Albizu University.

Over the course of several Thursdays, participants engaged in group sessions where they were able to socialize and openly express their feelings in a safe and supportive environment.

This short video provides a recap of how participants were positively impacted by this initiative.

05/28/2026

Our vision is clear. Our work is rooted. Our results are real. For nearly 50 years, we have built bridges, informed policy, managed public-private partnerships, and transformed the places we call home. For nearly 50 years, our work has been rooted in love. 💙

05/26/2026

Rooted conversations. Strong connections. Real community impact.

The USI CDFI had an incredible time connecting with local entrepreneurs, professionals, and community leaders during an evening centered around culture, collaboration, and opportunity.

Spaces like the Enterprise Center hosting Minority Professionals Networking Nights create valuable opportunities for professionals and entrepreneurs to build relationships, exchange ideas, and strengthen community connections.

Networking is more than exchanging contact information, it opens doors to mentorship, partnerships, visibility, and long-term growth.

At Urban Strategies, Inc., we believe meaningful connections are a critical part of economic mobility and long-term community impact, and we’re proud to continue supporting spaces that bring people together. Go Blues!

05/19/2026

Join us tomorrow from 1 – 2:30pm CST for third webinar in the Investing in Place, Investing in People webinar series! Sign up now: bit.ly/4vh1fOe

Tiffany D. Thomas
City of Norfolk Government
The Housing Authority of the City of Fort Myers
Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools
Fort Worth Housing Solutions