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I spent some time in the suburbs of Austin, Texas last weekend. I’d heard the stories about the mass movement to the Texas capital, especially during the pandemic, and the subsequent housing boom. I never fully processed the sheer concentration of wealth surrounding the city until driving around in my uncle’s tank. Or what others would call a “truck.” Once we got off the newly paved, traffic-choked highways we made our way into a subdivision with concrete and cement-laden single-family homes.
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Economic development is crucial for a quality life but how it’s done matters. Economist Kate Raworth speaks about the “donut” model for economics, one where people’s basic needs are met without overstepping planetary bounds. Some places need to do more and others…a lot less. As we work with our students on sustainable, community-focused entrepreneurship, our planet’s health is central to that process. A successful business pays people well and ensures a positive impact on the environment. Here’s what we’ve been working on this month in pursuit of this goal.
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Treshika has been hard at work developing an outline for Riverside’s long-term plans. It’s a 3-6 month long process that involves stakeholder interviews, synthesizing relevant information from similar organizations, identifying crucial benchmarks, and charting a path forward. It’s easy to get lost in the day-to-day tasks involved with running our organization, and Treshika’s work will ensure we don’t lose the forest for the trees.
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This month was heavy on operations. We recently conducted a title search on our building with the help of our legal team at Butler and Snow and filed returns with the IRS. We’re working with Ahmad Thompson, a brilliant contractor who designed Urban Foxes, to get our space ready for regular community use. As a grantee of the Community Foundation of Mississippi, Vilas sat down with Sophie Wolf to talk about our work with our participatory mural project. We partnered with the incredible Refill Jackson Initiative to host some of our recurring entrepreneurship classes. And finally, we did a lot of prep work for what promises to be a very busy and fulfilling April.
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Rising Leaders for Results Fellowship
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I went to Austin to participate in the second meeting of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Rising Leaders for Results Fellowship and connected with amazing leaders from across the country. The big question on everyone’s mind seemed to be “What does it take to connect with people?” Together, we identified the “factors” necessary to achieve our results and the ones that would prevent our success. We revisited the Person-Role-System framework and dove into BART (Boundary, Authority, Role, and Task) which helps delineate work tasks. As our cooperative grows, we can’t all be involved with everything! Good systems help us stay focused without getting overwhelmed.
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Costs and fees are piling up as our cooperative designs a sustainable coffeehouse, gathering space, and after-school program in South Jackson. Please consider donating at our nonprofit partner site to help us get off the ground.
Check out our nonprofit partner site at http://riversidecollective.org/ and/or follow us on Instagram @riversidecollective.jxn for more info and updates.
Want to get involved? Email home@riversidecollective.com with information about your interests.
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