NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

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Developing Communities of Opportunity with Jonathan Rose

Millions of low-income families live in communities disconnected from opportunity, where their financial status, race and zip code determine their access to education, jobs, food and many other essential services. In just the U.S., 43 million people require food stamp benefits to avoid malnutrition. Over 20 million families currently spend more than 50% of their income on housing, and up to 30% on their transportation and utility bills. There is little left to move forward, much less save. And many live in sub-standard housing, with mold on the walls, pest infestations or other toxins present. This poor distribution of opportunity, environmental quality and health is a fundamental misallocation of justice.

Research increasingly highlights that poor housing and neighborhood conditions have detrimental effects on a wide range of life outcomes including health, education, employment and lifetime earnings. If we are to create a fair and just society, then it is our moral imperative to overcome this. Resilience-minded developers and investors like Jonathan Rose are creating new, holistic strategies to cultivate communities of opportunity by developing or acquiring affordable and mixed income housing, served by mass transit and nearby resources, and creating an affordable, safe, non-toxic, pleasant and supportive environment for residents.

In this live fireside chat and audience Q&A, Impact Entrepreneur’s Laurie Lane-Zucker welcomes Jonathan Rose, founder and CEO of Jonathan Rose Companies, for a far-ranging discussion that explores how to develop communities of opportunity within cities.

Featured Guest

JONATHAN ROSE’s business, public policy, teaching, research, writing and not-for-profit work focuses on creating more environmentally, socially and economically resilient cities. In 1989, Jonathan founded Jonathan Rose Companies LLC, a multi-disciplinary real estate development, planning, project management, and investment firm, to address the challenges of the poor distribution of opportunity through the development of affordable and mixed-income housing. Jonathan has led the firm’s vision, program and growth, developing award winning new projects, investment funds and city plans to model solutions integrating the issues of affordable housing, community development, culture and the environment. The firm is one of the largest acquirers of affordable and mixed income housing in the nation. The firm’s innovative work has won awards from a wide range of notable organizations including: the Urban Land Institute, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Architects. Mr. Rose also advises global cities on planning, affordable housing, environmental, and social issues.

Jonathan’s book on how to create resilient cities, The Well-Tempered City: What Modern Science, Ancient Civilizations and Human Nature Teach Us About the Future of Urban Life, was published by Harper Wave in 2016, and won the 2017 PROSE Award for Outstanding Scholarly Work by a Trade Publisher. After His Majesty The King of Bhutan read the book, Jonathan became an advisor for the Government of Bhutan on its urban planning and other issues. Jonathan frequently lectures at graduate schools of business, environment and architecture on the future of cities, affordable housing community development, the environment, and regenerative business. In 2015, he held the Yale School of Architecture’s Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Architectural Fellowship. Jonathan will be an Executive in Residence at the Saïd Business School 2021-2022, focusing on his unfolding work on regenerative business and regenerative economies.

Jonathan has testified before U.S. Senate and House Committees on housing, infrastructure and environmental issues, and served as an Advisor to the White House Office of Urban Affairs. He serves on the Second District Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Jonathan is a Trustee of Enterprise Community Partners and The Capital Institute. He and his wife Diana Calthorpe Rose are the co-founders of the Garrison Institute and he serves as Chair on its Board. The Institute connects inner transformation with outer solutions to relieve suffering in the fields of trauma, education and the environment. Jonathan is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mr. Rose chaired the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Blue Ribbon Sustainability Commission, which developed the nation’s first green transit plan, and was a commissioner on Governor Cuomo’s NYS 2100 Commission, tasked with identifying strategies for the long-term resilience of New York State’s infrastructure post-Hurricane Sandy. Jonathan graduated from Yale University in 1974 with a B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy, and received a Masters in Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania in 1980, and has an Honorary Doctorate from the New School.

Host

LAURIE LANE-ZUCKER is Founder and CEO of Impact Entrepreneur, an impact economy business that hosts the Impact Entrepreneur Network, a 28,000 member global network of entrepreneurs, investors and scholars. Impact Entrepreneur is a cornerstone field building, research and educational player in the social impact space, and a consulting company that works with blended value companies, impact investors and academic institutions. For 30 years, Laurie has been a “pioneer” (Forbes) and recognized leader in sustainability, social enterprise and impact investing. Laurie was the founding Executive Director of the international environmental organization, Orion Society, which publishes the celebrated Orion Magazine, as well as the founder of a global sustainability think-tank, the Triad Institute, and Hotfrog, a Founding B Corporation, GIIRS Pioneer Company, and the first company ever to complete an equity transaction on an impact investment exchange.

Laurie is the bestselling and multiple award-winning publisher and editor of books and magazines on sustainability and social impact, having published, edited and written the introductions for celebrated works by Wendell Berry, Terry Tempest Williams, Barry Lopez and David James Duncan. He is the author of numerous articles on entrepreneurship and impact investing, and is the co-founder of the Place-Based Education movement, having coined the term with Dr. John Elder, and published, edited and written the foreword for the first book on that growing pedagogy. His current writing projects include two chapters (both co-written) for a forthcoming textbook, Sustainability: Business and Investment Implications by World Scientific Publishing. Laurie is also a lifelong student of world wisdom traditions and is the former Executive Director of Seven Pillars House of Wisdom, a nonprofit organization founded by Pir Zia Inayat Khan focused on advancing wisdom in service of social and environmental healing.

Impact Entrepreneur’s Luminarias Webinar Series features reflective conversations with the leading lights in impact investing and entrepreneurship.

Time: 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM EDT