City, state, and Yale leaders brainstorm "inclusive growth" over breakfast.
Over 150 Yale and New Haven leaders gathered amid sparkling lamps and plant walls at Hotel Marcel to start thinking about what a plan for tackling poverty and economic exclusion might someday look like.
Mayor Justin Elicker, Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers, State Treasurer Erick Russell, and a host of alders, nonprofit leaders, city officials, and business owners convened for a morning of discussions about how New Haven can foster an “inclusive” economy.
The event was hosted by the Center for Inclusive Growth, a nonprofit announced in 2021 as part of a six-year agreement between Yale and the city.
Per that deal, which was approved by the Board of Alders in April 2022, the university agreed to supplement its annual $13.2 million voluntary contribution to the city by roughly $10 million a year for five years, and by $2 million in the sixth and final year of the accord. (Yale has a $41.1 billion endowment as of Fiscal Year 2024 and largely operates untaxed.)
The agreement also established the Center for Inclusive Growth — technically an independent nonprofit with a $5 million, five-year budget contributed by Yale.
Since then, the Center for Inclusive Growth has hired a staff of three helmed by Executive Director Dawn Leaks Ragsdale. Leaks Ragsdale announced on Thursday that the organization intends to develop a “citywide strategic plan for inclusive growth,” informed in part by the input of participants at the morning’s meeting.
Asked whether the plan would put forward specific policy recommendations for the city, Leaks Ragsdale explained that it will focus more on “setting priorities for the next five to ten years.” The goal of the plan is to “help everyone move in the same direction” when it comes to economic development and opportunity.
In a speech to the crowd, Leaks Ragsdale described the center’s mission as, in part, to “bridge the gap between Yale and the city, connecting the university’s expertise and resources to community needs.”
This is “probably the most important time in New Haven to talk about inclusivity,” said Mayor Justin Elicker, nodding to a rise in housing development and biotech industries in the city at a moment when “federal leadership” is “actively trying to dismantle efforts like this.”
Attendees enjoyed a breakfast of eggs, bacon, and orange juice as photographers and videographers documented the introductory remarks. Eventually, the group divided into several “breakout rooms” to discuss what economic opportunity and quality-of-life initiatives the center should prioritize.
Mayor Justin Elicker: Now is a critical time for inclusivity.
In one meeting room, facilitator Frances Pollock of Midnight Oil Collective Innovations encouraged about 20 city and community leaders to pinpoint “low-hanging fruit” for the Center for Inclusive Growth to tackle.
Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers called attention to residents in the most dire financial straits: people “well below the poverty line,” sometimes “working two to three jobs” at a time when the cost of “housing is high.”
“How do we get revenue into under-resourced communities?” asked Pollock.
Cathy Graves, deputy director of economic development at the city, pointed out that of the aspiring small business owners her department assists, about three quarters are struggling with low credit scores that prevent them from securing loans, housing, and more.
Graves called for more financial literacy education for New Haveners at a young age, before they end up in a low-credit sinkhole. “We have to start at high school,” she said.
The Community Foundation’s Erica Bradley echoed this call for more financial skill-building opportunities — especially more interactive and individualized courses that assist people beyond the confines of a handful of sessions.
The conversation also touched on the city ordinances requiring developers to make a “good faith effort” to hire a percentage of contracting companies owned by Black and Brown entrepreneurs.
Minority Construction Council member Henry Smith noted that there are many Black and Brown contractors who may be skilled enough to take on a given job, but may not qualify due to upfront bonding requirements.
“The city can help with that,” said Mark Wilson of the Housing and Development Administration, proposing that local government could step in with a bond matching program.
Parking Authority Director Doug Hausladen said that his organization has begun holding construction companies to account for hiring Black and Brown subcontractors beyond the “good faith effort” requirement. “We’ve thrown out contracts” that failed to meet the threshold, Hausladen said.
With the $41.1 billion elephant in the room still unmentioned, Pollock promised to relay these ideas back to the Center for Inclusive Growth.
Soon, the group dispersed for a coffee break, with more brainstorming soon to follow.
New Haven Land Bank Director Serena Neal-Sanjurjo and Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers talk affordable housing, inclusive development.