Northeast Oklahoma City Renaissance sends this information as posted below:
OKLAHOMA CITY – The 4th annual PlaceKeepers Minority Developers Conference will take place Friday, July 12 and Saturday, July 13, yet again gathering community stakeholders and the nations top thought leaders for inspiration and discussion around the concept of placekeeping. The two-day conference will take place at OKC’s MetroTech Springlake campus on Friday, located at 1900 Springlake Drive, and a tour of Tulsa will convene across exemplary projects in Green Country, with travel from OKC provided. Tickets are $75, aspiring to reach attendees from a range of minority groups statewide.
Organizers, OKC-based nonprofit Northeast OKC Renaissance, define placekeeping as providing education and resources to residents and stakeholders who are seeking to redevelop the community in a way that preserves current residents and creates pathways to wealth generation. This year’s theme is “Community Catalysts” and will feature plenary and breakout sessions across themes of ethical design, cooperative economics and community stewardship. Attendees will gain access to tools, strategies and connections to develop small-scale projects that will cultivate neighborhoods and attract new residents.
As minority neighborhoods around the country face the juxtaposition of supporting a respective modern renaissance with creating intentional placemaking opportunities, people of color, women and those identifying as LGBTQ, are encouraged to join in on the ongoing conversation to contribute to revitalization efforts across their respective communities.
“The value of real estate is in the people and we chose the theme Community Catalysts because real estate goes beyond the built environment,” said DeAndre Martin, Program Director for PlaceKeepers. ““The aspiring developers, politicians, city planners, faith based communities, nonprofits and curious stakeholders add a special fabric to the community and we wanted to take the chance to highlight these individuals and show how important they are in order to have successful community development.
The agenda for the first day will cover Promise Homes, Rebuilding Black Wall Street, Strengthening Social Infrastructure for Community Transformation, Catalyzing Detroit, Affordable Housing and Policy and the Built Environment.
PlaceKeeping is happening in communities similar to Northeast OKC across the country,” Martin said. “We like to connect with these Community Developers to explore what are the best practices, and how we can implement them in OKC. There are amazing things happening in our Cultural Districts of OKC, so we also like to highlight the local Community Developers already at work.”
For the community development tours in Tulsa, attendees from OKC will be provided with transportation, and Tulsa area site visits including Envision Comanche, Gibbs Shopping Center, Wilshire Trails and Plaza Santa Cecelia.
“We see a lot of parallels between Deep Deuce in OKC and the Greenwood District Tulsa, Martin continues. “As we are three years post Centennial of the Race Massacre, we thought that it would be great to discuss how the community came together to preserve culture and develop projects that honor those who came before them. We will explore what has and has not worked for them, and get their updates for development in the future.”
PlaceKeepers began in 2021 and now encompasses six initiatives, from the annual conference, to seasonal cohorts, a capstone program, developers network and partnerships with the local Urban Land Institute, focusing on five key areas: education, cultural preservation, stakeholder and resident development, mentorship and wealth building.
More information about the PlaceKeeper’s Minority Developers Conference can be found at https://www.neokcr.org/placekeepers. Vendor spaces are still available at neokcr.org/pkc. Sponsoring organizations include The Alliance for Economic Development, Johnson and Associates, The Greater OKC Chamber, Citizens Bank, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
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