YIMBY Nation (Yes, In My Back Yard‪)‬ Jimmy Lee Miller, Vincencia Adusei, Peter J. Wood

How access to quality housing intersects with quality of life such as better health results. Joining us to explore this topic is Gillian Pressman, Managing Director at YIMBY Action. To kick off our conversation, Gillian shares how YIMBY Action is working to legalize housing and remove barriers to affordable housing. We discuss the far-reaching impact of quality housing which touches on education, youth empowerment, and health. Through the lens of her own experience, Gillian illustrates the im...

The housing and communities that people live in can influence nearly every aspect of their lives; from where they work to how they get there, the quality of the schools in their area, and even their longevity. Today, we take a deep dive into how zoning, land use policies, and efforts like NIMBYism affect affordability, equality in education, and economic mobility in our communities. Joining us to discuss this topic is Yonah Freemark, a Principal Research Associate at the Metropolitan Housing ...

Bringing about positive public policy change requires knowledge, insight, and above all, commitment. Our guest today, Michele "Dr. Tiny" Williams, has had a varied career that spans the military, real estate, and public policy. While conducting research for her recent Ph.D. in Public Policy, she examined the relationship between health and housing, the results of which had a huge impact on the latter half of her career. After realizing the substantial role that geography played in healt...

Most of us assume that the case for reparations to address the inhumane legacy of slavery is primarily about financial compensation. But that’s not necessarily the case. In part two of our conversation with Valerie White, we take a closer look at systemic inequities in the US and the potential for reparations to begin to repair them. We discuss the role that slavery and segregation played in creating the massive racial wealth gap and how it continues to define modern America. Next, Valerie un...

Founded in 1979, The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is a non-profit organization that has played a pivotal role in growing community development initiatives across the country for over three decades. Joining us today to discuss LISC’s work, community advocacy, systemic inequities, and more, is Senior Executive Director at LISC NY Valerie White. We kick off Part I of our conversation with Valerie by talking about her upbringing and how her parents inspired her to become involved ...

We are a country in crisis. Poverty, homelessness, and unfit housing continues to plague our society, along with issues of race and gender in America. During today’s conversation, leading economist Dr. Fred McKinney weighs in on the distinction between absolute and relative poverty; his belief is that while there will always be relative poor living among us, our focus should be on eradicating the presence of absolute poverty. Tune in to hear about the importance of government support, how the...