"Building One Waterfront" speaker series kicks off with discussion on equitable design and community engagement

Advocates for equity, open space leaders, and resilience experts from around the country are taking part in a three-part speaker series hosted by One Waterfront, beginning on September 15. 

The September 15 event, “Designing for equity, and engaging diverse communities,” will feature thought leaders in equity and social justice: Dr. S. Atyia Martin, former Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Boston, and CEO & Founder of All Aces, Inc., a professional development consultancy helping to advance diversity, equity and inclusion; April De Simone, Co-Founder & Partner of designing the WE, a for-benefit design studio positioned within the fields of social innovation and community driven social, cultural and economic development; and Mauricio Garcia, Chief Program & Engagement Officer for Friends of the High Line, a nonprofit organization and a public park on the West Side of Manhattan devoted to reimagining public spaces to create connected, healthy neighborhoods and cities. The discussion will be moderated by Shelley Sylva, Head of Social Impact for TD Bank. 

The panel discussion will be hosted online from 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., and is free for all, though advance registration (available here) is required. The September event will be followed by: “Funding a resilient, sustainable waterfront for future generations” (October 22), and “Green solutions for a waterfront city” (December 9). 

“These panel discussions will be a valuable opportunity for residents, local businesses, city leaders and others to engage with and learn from visionary practitioners,” says Nick Black, Managing Director of the Boston Waterfront Initiative. “The first discussion speaks to one of the pillars of our initiative—making our waterfront a more equitable and accessible place.”  

One Waterfront’s mission is to contribute to Boston’s quality of life by creating and managing significant parks that serve as world-class destinations, support diverse community needs, and utilize green solutions to help support the City’s climate resiliency goals.  

“In addition to our speaker series, we’re also looking forward to being involved in more community discussions in the coming months,” added Black. “Ultimately, the parks we’re working to build must serve the needs of their surrounding communities, and be welcoming places—for all to enjoy.” 

## 

Hosted by One Waterfront, the series is supported by presenting sponsor TD Bank through the TD Ready Commitment (td.com/tdreadycommitment).  

Learn more about the speaker series here: https://onewaterfront.thetrustees.org/speaker-series 

To stay up-to-date on One Waterfront events, news, and progress, join our blog alerts list by clicking here 

The One Waterfront Team