EdRedesign Harlem Children's Zone Summer Institute 2023

William Julius Wilson Institute (WJWI) at Harlem Children’s Zone and EdRedesign Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education will co-host Summer Institute: Transforming Place Through Neighborhood Leadership, a three-day event focused on accelerating the impact of organizations advancing place-based cradle-to-career solutions. The nation’s most promising neighborhood leaders and organizations will come together to engage on critical issues. The institute will feature presentations and workshops focused on key topics related to neighborhood-based cradle-to-career strategies including:

Building a funding pipeline and best practices around both public and private funding
Housing and the built environment; community violence; elevating youth and family voice; and engaging the faith community
Challenges of leading strong, interconnected cradle-to-career strategies
Supporting the interplay between data, accountability, and funding
Cutting-edge research on place-based strategies

Please click HERE to review the detailed Summer Institute agenda.

Please click HERE to review Summer Institute speaker biographies.

Please click HERE to review the Summer Institute participant list.

You can find a compilation of all the session slides from the event here.

Federal Grants for Place-Based Initiatives

July 2023 Snapshot

Federal Grant Opportunity Assessment Tool

Event Location & Things To Do

The Institute will begin with registration and breakfast at 8 am EST on Wednesday, July 12th at the Gutman Conference Center located on the garden level of the Gutman Library (6 Appian Way, Cambridge, MA 02138), followed by the Welcome and Keynote at 9 am. Greeters will be stationed at the front of Gutman to welcome you.

View the Harvard Campus Map to familiarize yourself with the campus. You can also search for locations of interest using the search bar at the top of the map webpage.

The following are links to suggested activities and places to eat in Cambridge and nearby Boston:

COVID Protocols

The health and safety of all attendees remains our top priority. All attendees must be vaccinated to attend Summer Institute. In addition, all attendees are requested to take a COVID test prior to attending the Summer Institute. If you are feeling sick or experiencing any COVID symptoms, we ask that you not attend. We will also have tests onsite for attendees to take should they need or wish to do so. While face masks are no longer required in accordance with CDC and Harvard University guidelines, attendees may continue to follow masking and physical distancing protocols if they so choose. We will provide masks for those that feel more comfortable wearing them, and we ask all attendees to be respectful and supportive of other attendees' choices.

Attire

Attire is business casual.

Hotel

Guests traveling from out of town will have received a hotel confirmation with the hotel location and the process for checking in. Guests will be staying at The Charles Hotel (1 Bennett Street, Cambridge, MA 02138), which is within walking distance of the Summer Institute location.

Hotel check-in time is 3pm and checkout time is 12pm.

Upon arrival, please check in at the Charles Hotel front desk to check in. If you plan to stay at the hotel for additional nights, please have a credit card available for payment. You will also need to provide a credit card for incidental charges.

Taxi/rideshare are at your own expense, with the exception of guest speakers.

Parking

For event participants, organizers, and special guests who will be driving from their point of origin to Cambridge, MA and staying at The Charles Hotel throughout our Summer Neighborhood Institute, your daily parking costs will be covered by the Summer Institute.

For event participants who will commute daily to the Harvard Graduate School of Education, validated parking is available at University Place Garage, 45 University Road. The garage is a five-minute walk to the event location. Please see a member of the EdRedesign staff to obtain a validation ticket before you return to your car at the end of each day. We regret that we are not able to reimburse out-of-pocket costs. In order to have your parking covered, you must use the validation ticket.

Please be aware of the following process for the validated onsite parking at the University Place Garage:

You will receive a regular white parking ticket when you enter the garage to park in the morning.
Visit the Registration table in the Gutman Library to receive the needed amount of parking vouchers from event staff for each day you are attending the event.
When you leave the garage at the end of each day, insert the white regular ticket and then insert the validated colored parking voucher you received from event staff.
If you have any difficulty using the parking voucher, please find a parking attendant to help you. All the vouchers have been pre-paid and will cover your full parking cost.

Technology

Wireless internet can be accessed on campus. Login information will be provided each day of the convening. You can also review information on how to access Harvard University wi-fi here. We recommend that participants bring laptop computers or tablets for Summer Institute sessions in which they will be used.

Meals & Dining

All meals will be provided during the convening:

Breakfast, lunch, and snacks on Wednesday, July 12th through Friday, July 14th
Opening Reception and Dinner in Gutman Library on Wednesday, July 12th from 6:30pm - 8:00pm.
A formal Dinner Reception at The Charles Hotel Ballroom on Thursday, July 13th from 6:00pm - 8:30pm.

Press & Media

Summer Institute sessions will be recorded and they may be made publicly available online. Additionally, we are planning to capture still photographs. You will be asked to sign a media/photo release form upon arrival consenting to being filmed and photographed.

William Julius Wilson Institute at Harlem Children’s Zone:

William Julius Wilson Institute at Harlem Children’s Zone is a national resource for place-based, people-focused solutions that open pathways to social and economic mobility.

Named for one of our nation’s most prolific African American scholars on poverty and inequality, and led by Geoffrey Canada, founder and president of Harlem Children’s Zone, William Julius Wilson Institute works with on-the-ground collaborators and national partners to deliver comprehensive strategies, support services, and tools that systematically root out poverty and close opportunity gaps in neighborhoods across America.

William Julius Wilson Institute is a central hub for place-based services and programs, and for backbone organizations to access the supports they need to be successful.

The EdRedesign Lab at Harvard Graduate School of Education:EdRedesign provides catalytic support to the cradle-to-career, place-based field to drive systems-level change and open personalized pathways to well-being, educational attainment, civic engagement, and upward mobility for all children and youth, especially those affected by racism and poverty. Our work focuses on talent development, actionable research, collaborative action and personalization, and movement building to support our growing field to effect transformational change that serves the needs and talents of individual children, youth, and families. We strive for a society characterized by racial, economic, and social justice.

We encourage guests to post about the convening on social media.

Use the hashtag #PowerOfPlace in all posts
For posts on Twitter and Instagram - mention @WJWInstitute and @EdRedesignLab
For posts on Facebook and LinkedIn - mention @HarlemChildrensZone and @EdRedesignLab