At the heart of the pandemic, I collaborated with two partners on a design for social innovation project – called Back the Neighborhood. A social experiment to understand how to knit back the frayed fabric of New York’s West Village neighborhood. Years of rising rents closed local businesses, restaurants, and mom-and-pop stores. When Covid hit, over 300k people left Manhattan, and the shuttered storefront spread like the virus.

Through interviews, the project identified the systemic issues and challenges that need to be solved to knit back the neighborhood’s fabric. We formed partnerships with other organizations committed to the same goal and lobbied legislators and policymakers to enact changes to support residents, restauranteurs, and retailers. The connections we established during the timeframe helped connect small business owners, artists, residents, and landlords meaningfully towards a positive step to address the most significant issues.