Recognizing the Community Design Collaborative on the 30th Anniversary of its founding.

WHEREAS, Founded in 1991 as a pilot program of the American Institute of Architects (“AIA”) Philadelphia, the Community Design Collaborative is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a network of over 1,000 volunteer design professionals who have spent over 100,000 hours on over 600 community design projects across Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, The Community Design Collaborative (“the Collaborative”) was born out of a series of ongoing efforts, which together provided the template for what the organization would become; and

WHEREAS, The Architects’ Workshop, founded in the late ‘60s, provided the model for the Collaborative’s mission: planning and design support for community groups and other community-based nonprofits in support of their efforts to strengthen their neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, The AIA-sponsored Regional/Urban Design Action Team, formed on the cusp of the 1990s, was instrumental in raising awareness of the conditions around the dilapidated North Philadelphia Station and other city neighborhoods, thus highlighting the need for rejuvenation; and

WHEREAS, The increase in awareness around such needs served as a call to action for members of the Young Architects’ Forum, allowing it to become a vehicle for the pent-up desire among young professionals to

do something

; and

WHEREAS, AIA Philadelphia responded to all of this new energy and focus by providing the Collaborative with a workspace and a modest startup stipend, a crucial step toward the Community Design Collaborative becoming a full-fledged, independent nonprofit with broad and diverse philanthropic, corporate, government, and individual support; and

WHEREAS, As the Community Design Collaborative enters its fourth decade, they are acutely and painfully aware that Philadelphia has attracted significant reinvestment and revival, but it has been uneven, and too many Philadelphians have not shared in the resulting prosperity; and

WHEREAS, With the local need for social impact design being higher than ever, the Collaborative remains steadfast in its commitment to engaging people, promoting equitable development, and strengthening neighborhoods through design; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Recognizes the Community Design Collaborative on the 30th anniversary of its founding.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to representatives of the Community Design Collaborative as a sincere expression of City Council’s gratitude, appreciation, and commendation, especially for their commitment to equitable development and social impact design.

End