Samuel Ratensky Memorial Lecture: Majora Carter

The annual Samuel Ratensky Memorial Lecture was initiated by the AIANY Housing Committee in honor of Samuel Ratensky (1910–1972), an architect and NYC housing official who was responsible for major housing initiatives in the city from 1946 to 1972, and who served as a mentor to the many architects who worked in his programs. The lecture series honors individuals who, like Ratensky, have made significant lifetime contributions to the advancement of housing and community design. This year's lecture honors MacArthur Fellow Majora Carter who will present "Transit, Talent, and Tomorrow: A Bronx Blueprint for Urban Revitalization."

Majora Carter brings her international leadership in urban revitalization strategy back to The Bronx in an inspiring talk about leveraging Transit Oriented Development, Talent-Retention, and pushing zoning and building codes for climate-adaptation and greater buildable square footage in an era of housing shortfalls. She pioneered green collar job training & placement systems, a green roof property tax abatement still in effect after 20 years, and a Rudy Bruner award winning park where there were once illegal garbage dumps. She went on to create StartUp Box, a 3rd space tech-inclusion social enterprise, and later opened The Boogie Down Grind cafe-bar named Best in the City by TimeOutNY. She is currently building on her relationship with Amtrak to combine Right of Way property with adjacent smaller lots that open the door for greater possibilities where others see none.

Speaker:
Majora Carter, Real Estate Developer, Consultant, Author

About the Speaker:
Majora Carter is a real estate developer, urban revitalization strategy consultant, MacArthur Fellow, Peabody Award-winning broadcaster, and teaches at Princeton University. She's responsible for the creation of numerous economic developments, technology inclusion projects, green-infrastructure developments and policies, and job training and placement systems. Carter is quoted on the walls of the Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and Culture in DC with "Nobody should have to move out of their neighborhood to live in a better one,” which is also the subtitle of her book Reclaiming Your Community (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2022). Carter applies corporate talent-retention consulting practice to reduce Brain Drain in American low-status communities. She has firsthand experience pioneering sustainable economic development in one of America's most storied low-status communities, the South Bronx, as well as cities across North America and abroad. She and her teams develop vision, strategies and the type of development that transforms low-status communities into thriving mixed-use local economies. Her approach harnesses capital flows resulting from American re-urbanization to help increase wealth building opportunities across demographics left out of all historic financial tide changes.

Carter's work produces long term fiscal benefits for governments, residents, and real estate developments. In 2017, she launched the Boogie Down Grind, a Hip Hop themed specialty coffee and craft beer spot, and the first commercial “3rd Space” in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx since the mid-1980s. This venture also provides a rare opportunity for local families to invest through SEC approved online investment platforms. Her ability to shepherd projects through seemingly conflicted socio-economic currents has garnered her 8 honorary PhD's and awards such as: 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs, Silicon Alley 100 by Business Insider, Liberty Medal for Lifetime Achievement by News Corp, and other honors from the National Building Museum, International Interior Design Association, Center for American Progress, as well as her TEDtalk (one of six to launch that site in 2006). She currently serves on the board of directors for STREB and Solar One, and has served on the boards of the US Green Building Council, Ceres, The Wilderness Society, and the Andrew Goodman Foundation.

Carter was born, raised, and continues to live in the South Bronx. She is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science (1984), Wesleyan University (1988 BA, Distinguished Alum) and New York University (MFA). After establishing Sustainable South Bronx (2001) and Green For All (2007), among other organizations, she opened this private consulting firm (2008) which was named Best for the World by B-Corp in 2014. While at Sustainable South Bronx, Carter deployed MIT’s first-ever Mobile Fab-Lab (digital fabrication laboratory) to the South Bronx, where it served as an early iteration of the “Maker-Spaces” found elsewhere today. The project drew residents and visitors together for guided and creative collaborations. In addition, Carter launched StartUp Box, a ground-breaking tech social enterprise that provided entry-level tech jobs in the South Bronx, operating it from 2014–2018. Carter has helped connect tech industry pioneers such as Etsy, Gust, FreshDirect, Google, and Cisco to diverse communities at all levels.