5 hours
In-person
Northeastern Crossing
1175 Tremont st.
Boston, MA 02120
This innovative training series is a three-part hybrid training (Planning 101 and Planning 102 are virtual, and Planning 103 is in-person).
“Putting the Community Back in Planning” is a training on the community perspective and experience of urban planning. Community development corporations and other community groups have a very different role to play in planning than local governments do. While all stakeholders must find common ground across different interests and priorities, community-based organizations must at the same time advance their mission to amplify the voices of low and moderate income folks, people of color, seniors, families, etc. Using interactive exercises and case studies, this workshop will offer tools that participants can use to educate community members about planning processes and support them to advocate for their needs including affordable housing, good jobs, and accessible transit.
Participants will gain a deeper understanding of:
Participants will gain hands-on skills and/or resources in:
A Boston native, Sarah Horsley has supported community efforts for social and economic justice locally and nationally for over two decades. Sarah has mobilized community leaders to organize campaigns on reproductive justice, affordable housing, tenants rights and COVID safety in schools. Through Rising Sun Consulting for Progressive Social Change, she offers training, coaching and consulting to organizers and nonprofits.
Sarah stands in solidarity with low-income residents and residents of color who are fighting to remain housed and healthy in Boston. She was an Advisory Group member for the City of Boston’s Plan JP Rox process and serves on the board of the Boston Tenant Coalition and on the JP Neighborhood
Council’s Housing & Development Committee. In 2021, she co-founded BPS Families for COVID Safety (FamCOSa), mobilizing with other families for equitable COVID protections and facilities improvements in the Boston Public Schools (BPS).
Sarah also teaches in the sociology department at UMass Boston and is the proud parent of a BPS student. She received a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School and a bachelor’s degree in Feminist Studies from Stanford University.
René Mardones migrated to the United States from Chile in 2000. Since then, he has been actively involved in social issues affecting low income communities, immigrants, and communities of color in the Greater Boston Area. In 2003 René joined the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) as an AmeriCorps Organizer. Later Rene joined Sociedad Latina as a parent organizer; there he had the opportunity to work with immigrants who wanted to better understand the educational system in Boston. René spent seven years working as a community organizer for Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE) and its T Riders Union program. In 2013, René became the lead organizer with Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) working on a range of issues such as affordable housing, local jobs and community benefits agreement around new developments coming into Somerville, MA. In 2021, René joined Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) as the Director of Community Organizing. He has a BA in Human Services from the University of Massachusetts Boston