Bloomberg Innovation Fellow Carol Coletta visits Port St. Lucie
It was an honor to host Carol Coletta, Bloomberg Innovation Fellow from the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University.
Carol most recently received the Urban Land Institute’ s Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, recognizing her lifelong commitment to shaping inclusive, vibrant and equitable cities through innovative public spaces and civic partnerships. She has spent a lifetime focused on public space and its impact on cities and is the former CEO of the Memphis River Partnership.
Carol has held leadership roles at the Kresge Foundation, where she led the national initiative Reimagining the Civic Commons, demonstrating how connected civic assets can promote community resilience and shared prosperity. She also served as vice president of Community and National Initiatives at the Knight Foundation, managing a $ 50 million grant portfolio to support public life, creative placemaking and urban innovation. Additionally, she led the start-up of ArtPlace, was president / CEO of CEOs for Cities, and directed the Mayors’ Institute on City Design.
For nearly a decade, Coletta created and hosted“ Smart City,” a nationally syndicated public radio program, interviewing more than 900 leaders in urbanism, arts and public policy. She is frequently cited as an expert on urban revitalization, creative placemaking and the economic integration of cities.
The City of Port St. Lucie has joined the Community of Practice that Carol is leading on creating connection among strangers in public
spaces. Her work complements the work of the SII and Parks & Recreation teams in designing neighborhood green spaces with residents through the Trust for Public Land’ s On Common Ground Grant and in partnership with the Love Your Block team’ s work in the Whispering Pines neighborhood, also in partnership with the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University.
Carol was able to join us for the press conference announcing major progress in our Naturally PSL innovation project, and at Whispering Pines Park as we hosted a group of residents forming ties and working together to build a green space that will foster improved connection in their neighborhood.
We had a fascinating conversation with Carol and deeply appreciate the opportunity to learn from her insights as we work together to create a more engaged and connected Port St. Lucie. www. CityofPSL. com
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