PCRG's 10th Annual Community Development Summit

The 10th Annual Community Development Summit, hosted annually by Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group in conjunction with the Urban Land Institute - Pittsburgh District Council, is the premier regional conference that covers community development topics. With nearly 600 participants from 11 states, our two-day event not only showcases PCRG’s work with, and on behalf of, our 60 members; it also highlights state-of-the-art community development techniques. Participants gain exposure to industry best practices and national trends, develop tactics to enhance the quality of life of those they serve and will dive deeply into sessions that describe how communities are creating cross-sector partnerships for lasting, inclusive change.

REFOCUSING ON BASICS:

This year’s theme - [Re] defining Equity, Equality, and Justice in Community Development…Who Holds the Keys to Power? – hones in on the challenges and opportunities in creating communities that lift up people of all races, genders, and backgrounds onto an even field of opportunity.

While American cities are thriving again, their rebirth has also created multiple, compounded, negative consequences. Many of these harken to the days before community development was even a concept let alone a field. This is because, despite collective best efforts, the rebirth rests largely on institutionally racist and sexist systems of the past. Decades-old socioeconomic, rural-urban, racial, and gender divides are growing and are exacerbated by institutional inequality built into our capital, land use, and transportation systems that were never taken head-on. Redlining’s legacy is felt in both rapidly gentrifying and economically frozen neighborhoods. Leaders in our field, some of whom have been fighting since the 1970s, are thirsty for a genuine discussion leading to action that once and for all delivers real, permanent equity to marginalized residents and their representative communities. This is the thrust of the 2020 Community Development Summit.

Sessions and Content

At each Summit, we have a number of keynote speakers, time for networking, mobile tours, and sessions that are relevant to practitioners of community development. The Summit will feature 16 sessions that explore all aspects of community development. Sessions are led by expert practitioners, residents, academic experts, and leaders in the field. This year, sessions will focus on the following topic areas:

• housing, development, and re-use of land

• economic development

• access to capital

• equity and community

• and transportation and mobility

Visit pcrgsummit.org for information about our agenda, sessions, mobile workshops, keynote speakers, and more.