Left to right: Front row: Areej Sabzwari, Jess Remington, Kimaada Sills, Kate Davidoff,
Neha Patel. Back row: Allison Harris, Stephen Abbott, Dr. Roland V. Anglin, Nagla Bedir,
Michael Simmons

The IRCT is a university-based effort that helps community residents and leaders in the public and private sectors frame workable policies that will bolster the political, economic, and social participation of marginalized communities within the larger metropolitan community. The IRCT’s vision is inclusive. This vision not only encompasses concerns for the poor but also includes the concept of livable communities. Leaders of the Initiative believe that in order for metropolitan regions to support sustainable and livable communities, all sectors of civil society must be involved and see shared interests.

As a learning initiative, the IRCT helps communities and community-based organizations understand and articulate their knowledge of the links between the fortunes of the places they seek to rebuild, the regional community, and intermediaries that might help them develop new and innovative public policies. This is both a challenge and a path for major changes in the way we envision community development, economic development, workforce development, the environment, and sustainability. It is not easy to achieve a working relationship and exchange among all these perspectives. The process of articulating a new paradigm of urban and metropolitan development involves helping leaders in civil society understand how social justice, economic development, and efforts to be good stewards of the environment can help produce greater inclusion and development of communities that are now marginalized.