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Neighborhood Institute, Strong City Baltimore’s annual skill-building conference for neighborhood leaders, activists, and nonprofit professionals, is just five weeks away! This year we have a new venue, new partners, and a program that reflects these extraordinary times for our city and nation. With election season in full swing and the Census count kicking into high gear, Strong City is joining forces with other local organizations around the theme of “Building Civic Power.”
The 12th annual Neighborhood Institute takes place Saturday, March 28, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Baltimore City Community College. It will feature more than 40 workshops, trainings, and discussions organized into 11 tracks including “Civic Engagement, Civic Power,” “Telling Baltimore’s Story,” “Racial Justice and Equity,” and “Revitalizing Neighborhoods.” Several ticket options are available, all of which including breakfast and lunch. Capacity is limited, so don’t wait – buy your ticket today!
Attendees at Neighborhood Institute 2020 can learn how to fight blight in their neighborhood, how to raise funds for their organization, how the ballot initiative process works, and many other useful skills. There will be panel discussions on “Building Civic Power in Post-Uprising Baltimore” and “The Future of Transit.” And our partners at Baltimore City’s Census team, Open Society Institute-Baltimore, the No Boundaries Coalition, and Baltimore Votes will train attendees to engage with the tools of democracy. The day’s activities will conclude with a rousing call to action by retiring City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke.
“Every year, people come to Neighborhood Institute to meet other local leaders and learn how to address challenges in their communities,” said Mike Cross-Barnet, organizer of programming for the event. “This year, we are also taking advantage of the moment we find ourselves in – a historic election and the decennial Census – to join with many partners to build democracy by encouraging civic participation and engagement at all levels.”
At this year’s conference, we are also releasing “Building Blocks: Stories of Neighborhood Transformation,” a book we wrote that offers inspiring stories and useful advice from successful Strong City-supported neighborhood organizing efforts in Baltimore. There will be a conversation featuring some of the neighborhood leaders whose work is chronicled in the book.
Here is the full listing of workshops and conversations at Neighborhood Institute 2020. Keep an eye on our social media for workshop descriptions and more information!
Track: Activating Communities
- Building a Robust Block Captain Program
- Increasing Resident Involvement in Community-Based Associations
- Power of Play: Lessons From the Eutaw Place Play Days
- Using Data to Create Neighborhood Action Plans
Track: Civic Engagement, Civic Power
- Blueprint for Baltimore: Using Community-Owned Data for Organizing and Advocacy
- Census 2020: Everyone Counts in Baltimore
- Civic Culture in Hard to Persuade Communities
- Plan Your Party at the Polls!
Track: Diversity and Inclusion
- Advocating for Families of Children With Disabilities
- Engagement and Partnership With the Latino Community
- The Reframing Initiative: Changing How We Talk About Human Service Work
- Working With and for LGBTQ People in Baltimore
Track: Future of Transit
- The Ballot Initiative As a Tool for Direct Democracy: Creating a Regional Transit Authority
- Traffic Calming and Pedestrian Safety Through Art and Engineering
- Transit Equity in Baltimore: A Conversation
Track: Get the Job Done!
- Being Legit: Ten Ways to Keep Your Nonprofit in Compliance
- Bracing for Kirwan: How To Understand and Engage With Baltimore’s Budget
- Do Your Job! Getting City Agencies to Respond in a Timely and Effective Manner
- Financial Oversight for Nonprofit Boards
- How to Use Strategic Planning
Track: Making It Work
- Achieving Work/Life Balance
- Barriers Facing Those Returning From Incarceration
- Tackling Long-Term Unemployment in Baltimore: How You Can Help
- Understanding Baltimore’s Workforce System
Track: Pathways and Tools for Better Living
- A Community Approach to Improving Birth Outcomes
- Preserving and Protecting Baltimore’s Green Spaces
- The Reframing Initiative: Changing How We Talk About Human Service Work
- Using the Maryland Public Information Act to Access Public Records
Track: Racial Equity and Justice
- Defining Equity in Neighborhood Revitalization Planning
- Fair Housing Enforcement As a Tool for Advancing Equity
- How White People Can Fight Racism and Avoid Involving the Police
- Truth-Telling and Healing as Part of an Anti-Racist Agenda
Track: Revitalizing Neighborhoods
- Marketing and Restoring Historic Properties: What Communities Should Know
- Neighborhood Placemaking
- Re-creating Vacant Lots As an Asset in the Community’s Vision
- Vacancy and Code Enforcement From a Community Perspective
Track: Stronger Nonprofits and Stronger Businesses
- Finding the Funds: State Resources for Greening and Revitalization
- Grow the Local Economy By Investing in Local Business
- Hacking the Grant Narrative: Competing for Funding
- Introduction to Grant Writing
Track: Telling Baltimore’s Story
- “Building Blocks” Goes Live: A Conversation About Neighborhood Transformation
- Five Years Later: A Panel Talk on Building Civic Power in Post-Uprising Baltimore
- How Negative Narratives Hurt Communities; How New Ones Can Help
- Theater-Based Community Building
Neighborhood Institute began in 2007 in a church basement with a handful of workshops and a few dozen participants. It has since grown into the city’s premier annual training and networking event for neighborhood leaders, drawing more than 300 participants from all over Baltimore, and beyond. Get your ticket here.
