2022 Newsletter #5

Karp Strategies on Instagram, on projects, with partners, and out and about and in the news.

Want to see Karp Strategies in action? We are on Instagram! Follow us at @karp.strategies to meet the team, learn more about our approach, spot us at events, and see the results of our project work.

Work in Westchester: Over the past seven months, Karp Strategies, alongside LANDAU Design + Technology, designed and implemented an innovative stakeholder engagement process for the City of New Rochelle as part of New York State’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI). This project combines community engagement with a virtual reality kiosk to allow stakeholders to envision and explore a proposed redevelopment in three dimensions. Since June 2022, when the kiosk launched, Karp Strategies has facilitated multiple engagement events, with over 300 New Rochelle community members trying on VR goggles to see their future city in a 360-degree view and sharing feedback about it. We can’t wait to see how this new technology evolves in New Rochelle on future projects!

Top left: Congressman Jamaal Bowman at the NRVR Kiosk in July. Top right: Modular panels explain a proposed redevelopment. Bottom left: People interacting with the kiosk at a Juneteenth event. Bottom center: An HD video screen allows for flexible content. Bottom right: An on-site feedback area.

Facilitation in Florida: The Emerald Trail is a proposed 30-mile pedestrian walkway that will connect 14 historic neighborhoods to Downtown Jacksonville with the hope of spurring economic development and revitalizing social connections in these diverse outlying communities. The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA), given design and construction oversight by Jacksonville City Council, will be partnering with Groundwork Jacksonville, a local nonprofit that has been leading advocacy efforts for the Emerald Trail, to deliver this project. Over the past several months, Karp Strategies facilitated a series of partnering sessions between JTA and Groundwork Jacksonville focused on how the two organizations will work together in a newly formed relationship, including establishing agreements for Trail design/construction, applying for federal grants, determining funding strategy, and developing external media communications. These efforts have helped position the Emerald Trail project to fulfill its promise of creating lasting and inclusive benefits for Jacksonville’s residents and visitors.

Renderings from the Emerald Trail Master Plan and Implementation Strategy prepared by the Path Foundation and Kaizen Collaborative for Groundwork Jacksonville.

Beginning with this very post, we are starting a new feature spotlighting our M/WBE partners—both those we’ve worked with and those we hope to collaborate with in the future. It’s an opportunity to recognize the deep bench of diverse talent who make projects better by bringing their expertise and lived experience. We know what it’s like to be a small WBE business and want to celebrate their substantial contributions to the industry.

First up is L + L, a women-owned graphic design firm based in Brooklyn that designs “nice things for good people.” They specialize in branding and digital systems for problem solvers and innovators, translating big ideas into engaging and relatable content. Karp Strategies enjoyed seeing them in action on Return to Riverbend, a riverfront master plan for the City of Middletown, Connecticut. Read more about L+L and their work on the project here.

Karp Strategies is happy to welcome Anthony Fabre to the team as Director of Economic Development + Policy. Having served in multiple leadership roles across NYC government, including at the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and the NYC Department of City Planning, Anthony brings a deeply-rooted understanding of processes and public-sector stakeholders to his work. He is an alumnus of Hunter College with a Master of Science in Urban Planning and grounds his planning practice in building lasting relationships.

We are also happy to welcome Annie White to the team as Director of Real Estate + Economic Development. In her five years at the NYC Department of City Planning, Annie served as a project manager for developments and initiatives in neighborhoods across the city. She represented DCP in major city initiatives such as the Garment Center rezoning and the SoHo-NoHo envisioning process. A graduate of the Master’s in Urban Planning program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, Annie is committed to thoughtful community engagement and transparency in the planning process.

Karp Strategies Managing Principal + CEO, Rebecca Karp, authored an op-ed in the Gotham Gazette. She advocated for an equity-focused, comprehensive strategy to increase investment in New York's growing offshore wind industry, similar in scope to the strategy that accelerated the life sciences sector's NYC. Read the op-ed here.

Karp Strategies Principal Jeff Lee Romero moderated the “Where Do We Start? Getting the Ball Rolling on Sustainability” panel as part of Brooklyn Law School’s Sustainability and Future Cities Boot Camp. Read more about it on our blog here.

Principal Alexandra Sutherland-Brown and Senior Analyst Danielle Roberts attended the Women's Leadership Initiative’s Equitable Development Summit in Indianapolis, IN, hosted by the Urban Land Institute (ULI). The event was a fantastic opportunity to meet the passionate people working on expanding representation and diversity in the real estate industry. ULI Indiana intentionally structured their panels to discuss where we've been, where we are now, and where we can go. Indianapolis has a history of black excellence, like Madam C.J. Walker, who changed the city through her development and philanthropy in the late 19th to early 20th century. Today, ULI Indiana's Real Estate Diversity Initiative (REDI) is working to prepare a new generation of developers from populations largely missing in the real estate industry.

Consultant Yuri Chang moderated a Climate Justice Panel discussion as part of “Climate Justice in NYC 10 Years After Sandy” during NYC’s Climate Week. The panel covered the lessons learned since Hurricane Sandy, the definition of environmental justice, and the role of the private and public sectors in advancing climate justice initiatives throughout NYC.

As a part of the same event, Senior Analyst Gopinath Gnanakumar Malathi participated in a Climate Justice Mini Lab as a strategic advisor. He guided twenty young professionals as they explored the inequities uncovered by Sandy and the possible compounding effects of some post-Sandy policies and designed and developed a framework for climate justice action in NYC.

The Center for Resilient Cities and Landscapes at Columbia University will host Sandy + 10: Resilience, Equity, Climate Justice on October 28. With over $18 billion spent on federal, state, local, and philanthropic climate resiliency initiatives, this conference digs into lessons learned in the ten since Superstorm Sandy, and directives for adaptation planning moving forward. Karp Strategies Senior Consultant Sarah Dougherty will present on a cross-sector panel that looks at how the renewable energy industry has changed over the last decade, and what opportunities and risks renewable infrastructure planning brings in the future. Learn more about the event and register here.

Join the Urban Design Forum for “Housing as Health Care,” a discussion with Dr. Robert E. Fullilove, Leora Jontef, and Wendi Shafran on how permanent housing can shape healthier communities on November 2, from 6:00–8:00 PM. See here.

The Business Network for Offshore Wind is hosting its OSW Grid & Transmission Summit in Charleston, South Carolina, November 9–10. The event will bring together industry decision-makers to discuss building the offshore wind power grid and explore lessons from the first U.S. projects to open. Rebecca Karp will be speaking about how to navigate stakeholder engagements as offshore wind power comes to shore on the panel “Strategies to Mitigate Cable Landings Impacts." Find out more here.

The Urban Land Institute will host a presentation, “New York Economic Forecast 2023,” with Sabina Reeves on November 15 from 8:00–10:00 AM. Learn more about the event and register here.

New York Building Congress’ Industry Recognition Gala is December 7 at 6:00 PM. See here for more details.