Hope and Community Highlight EdRedesign’s Annual Summer Institute 

Community, hope, and a sense of place were the focus of the Transforming Place Through Neighborhood Leadership Summer Institute, an annual gathering put on by the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s EdRedesign Lab.

The three-day summer institute, which took place July 6-9 at Cambridge’s Charles Hotel as well as on Appian Way, saw more than 300 neighborhood organization leaders, city governments, and various community partners come together to share ideas, network, and plan for the future.

The gathering, held in partnership with the William Julius Wilson Institute at Harlem Children’s Zone, featured panel discussions, workshops, and fireside chats meant to strengthen EdRedesign’s model of cradle-to-career place-based “Success Plans” in neighborhoods across the country. Aiming to build an educational backbone that goes beyond traditional K–12 schooling, the gathering was a chance to share ideas and inspire change among community leaders and educators.

“How do we engineer the shift from a mass production system to one that meets children where they are and gives them what they need, inside and outside of school?” asked HGSE professor and EdRedesign founder Paul Reville.

With attendees from 84 cities across 31 states, many panels featured community leaders who have successfully replicated the model put in practice by the Harlem Children’s Zone and EdRedesign.

“What’s most exciting to me are the national partnerships we’ve developed,” said Sondra Samuels, co-founder, president, and chief executive of Northside Achievement Zone in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “When I first sat in this room, I didn’t know William Julius Wilson Institute. I did not know EdRedesign. Now, I know those organizations. And they know me.”

Samuels spoke during a session on the institute’s opening day, with Ed Redesign’s Institute of Success Planning deputy director Tauheedah Jackson, Ed.M.’22, noting Samuels’ example as one of many success stories meant to inspire amid a turbulent period for education in America.

“This is the level of passion and commitment that it takes for us to be relentless about this work,” said Jackson. “For us to know that even when people want to dim our light or think small that we can dream big and we can lean into that.”

Harlem Children’s Zone founder Geoffrey Canada, Ed.M.’75, echoed that message of hope during a fireside chat on Thursday evening and noted that “this is not the time for us to start thinking about throwing in the towel.”

“I look around and I see these leaders and folks I know by name, and I’ve seen their work across the country. Place by place I have seen this work happening, and it makes me feel hopeful,” said Canada, who received a standing ovation. “We are making progress against all odds, and that gives me as much hope as anything.”

Photos by Ben Gebo.