Philanthropic Generosity At Its Best: The Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence

New Orleans is now benefiting from the knowledge, experience, and passion of a dynamic network of urban redevelopment professionals, thanks to a one-of-a-kind program called the Center for Urban Redevelopment Excellence, or CUREx.

CUREx was created at the University of Pennsylvania to bring together the perspectives of people working in different areas of the wide field of urban redevelopment, giving them a broader understanding of their work.

“You can’t get all this education in one place anywhere else,” said Mindy Turbov, a founding board member of CUREx who owns a Chicago-based community development consulting firm.

A grant from the Rockefeller Foundation brought the program to New Orleans in 2007.  “After the storm, there was a great deal of interest in building the capacity of the field to meet the city’s need,” said Valerie Piper, Executive Director of CUREx at the University of Pennsylvania.   “The Rockefeller Foundation saw our methodology as a way that could have some real, lasting benefit.  We pick people who have the passion to stick with it.”

From 2007-2009, the CUREx fellowship program held classes at UNO and educated 25 fellows, who were placed at area non-profit and government agencies.  23 of those fellows continue to work in redevelopment in New Orleans.

With a little bit of money left from the Rockefeller grant, CUREx is able to offer this coursework to a second cohort of New Orleans professionals.  With a $90,000 grant from the Greater New Orleans Foundation CUREx will augment the scholarship program by bringingnational speakers who are experts in the field to New Orleans and enabling the relationship-building that CUREx fosters.

Begun in the fall of 2009, the CUREx scholarship program will train the next group of 25 redevelopment professionals in New Orleans.  Scholars are early- to mid-career professionals nominated to the program by their employers.  These – architects, lawyers, accountants, community organizers, planners, and engineers take classes part-time while working.

CUREx uses a hands-on approach to learning.  Students take on case studies together and work on hypothetical projects in New Orleans from all perspectives, including the profit and nonprofit sectors, and integrate neighborhood outreach.

“There’s nothing that compares to working with neighborhoods here,” said John Marshall, a former CUREx fellow.  “New Orleans has the most informed citizens I’ve ever encountered in my line of work.”

Marshall left a career at a large law firm in Tampa to participate in the CUREx fellowship and work for the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA).

“I thought I would come here for 18 months, but now I don’t know when I’ll be ready to leave New Orleans,” said Marshall.  He and others in his CUREx network frequently call each other with questions and ideas.  “I’ve developed as many professional contacts in two years here as I did in 10 years in Tampa.”

“All the scholars are here because they want to make a difference in New Orleans,” said Marshall.  “Only two of the fellows have left the city, even though the vast majority came from elsewhere.  We have developed a tight professional network.”

Marshall is one of three former CUREx fellows working for NORA, which has also nominated three of the current scholars.  He works with one neighborhood at a time on development projects, selecting the prevailing developer based on neighborhood feedback.

“Instead of Target or CVS, now I’m working with Mrs. Johnson or a neighborhood group,” said Marshall.  “I’m working for the people of the city, giving back.  It gives me a feeling of accomplishment.  I probably would not have moved back if not for this program.  This is philanthropic generosity at its best.”