About

In this session, originally recorded on December 3, 2020, we asked Mary W. Rowe to share her five good ideas for the non-profit sector to build a city, now and in the wake of a global pandemic. Mary is President and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute. She is no stranger to how cities recover from disasters, having worked in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and New York City during and following Hurricane Sandy. For several years Mary worked closely with Maytree Chair Alan Broadbent on Ideas that Matter, a convening and publishing program focused on the core areas of Jane Jacobs’ work: cities, economies, and values. Her work continues to be focused on how cities enable self-organization, cultivate innovation, and build social, economic, environmental, and cultural resilience. This Five Good Ideas session was organized in partnership with the Canadian Urban Institute. Five Good Ideas Everything important really does start, and is, local Now’s the time to start sleeping with your enemies Lead with improvisation, experimentation, and risk-taking Do not assume, do not wait: Say goodbye to “Big Daddy” Watch, share, talk, act Related resource: The Third Pillar by Raghuram Rajan | read a review “Rolling up our sleeves” (conference keynote by Mary Rowe) – “Granular Resilience: Paying Attention to the Local” (article by Mary Rowe) “New Orleans speaks: We are the ones we’ve been waiting for” (video) CUI websites: www.citywatchcanada.ca, www.citysharecanada.ca, www.citytalkcanada.ca and www.bringbackmainstreet.ca For the full transcript, visit https://maytree.com/five-good-ideas/five-good-ideas-to-build-a-city/ About Mary W. Rowe Mary W. Rowe is President and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute. An impassioned civic leader with diverse experience in the business, government, not-for-profit and philanthropy sectors in Canada and the United States for over 30 years, Mary has been a steady advocate and champion for place-based approaches to building livable and resilient cities, and community-driven local economies. She has led campaigns, organizations, initiatives, and companies spanning a few months to several years. Mary was deeply engaged in the self-organizing initiatives that emerged in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, providing support to two dozen initiatives that focused on various forms of resilience. She also supported, in her role at MAS NYC, community engagement efforts during the recovery from Superstorm Sandy, and Rebuild