Russell: A Place of Promise - Shifting the Paradigm of Community Investment from Charity to Resident Partnership and Community Ownership
Please join us for a general lecture by Cassandra Webb and Theresa Zawacki on Tuesday, October 10.
Russell: A Place of Promise (RPOP) is a justice-based initiative focused on generating non-extractive investments in the people and places that make Louisville, Kentucky’s Russell neighborhood special with the goals of building Black wealth and investing without displacement. The initiative is currently incubated by Louisville Metro Government and Cities United, a national organization committed to reducing gun violence among Black men and boys, and is fiscally sponsored by the Community Foundation of Louisville. In 2024, RPOP will incorporate as a nonprofit and will establish a community land trust in 2025. RPOP’s Promise of People strategies include resident leadership development, shared learning, arts and storytelling and community building. RPOP’s Promise of Place strategies are informed by relationships with residents and include homeownership creation and preservation, small business development and strengthening, innovation in workforce development and the collective ownership of neighborhood assets. RPOP is guided by its Russell Partnership Pledge, a set of shared values co-authored with a group of Russell residents. RPOP engages in policy and advocacy at a local, state and national level, as systems change is critical to the long-term success of its work.
This lecture will focus on RPOP’s history, current and future plans, role in Louisville’s first guaranteed income pilot and housing strategies.