The Role of Art and Culture in Community Building

How grantmaking, investment and the arts can work hand-in-hand to better our communities

Monday, October 14, 2:00pm – 4:30pm

Organized by Anna Raginskaya, financial advisor, Blue Rider Group at Morgan Stanley.

Presented by Laura Callanan, founding partner, Upstart Co-Lab; Tregg Duerson, chief operating officer Rebuild Foundation; and Mark Falcone, CEO, Continuum Partners.

This session will be anchored by the work of the Rebuild Foundation, founded and led by artist Theaster Gates, which functions as a platform for art, cultural development, and neighborhood transformation in Chicago. Participants will consider how to support community building efforts not only in their grantmaking portfolios, but also through their investments. In addition to Tregg Duerson, COO of the Rebuild Foundation, we will feature Mark Falcone of Continuum Partners, a developer of affordable housing in Denver and Los Angeles, who is proposing a new model for investing in real estate aimed at solving the urgent affordability and equity challenges in every high growth U.S. City. We will also hear from Laura Callanan, founding partner of Upstart Co-Lab about impact investing in an inclusive creative economy and her recent partnership with the Souls Grown Deep Foundation. Stakeholders will speak to grantmaking and investment opportunities that support neighborhood revitalization, enterprise development, and sustainability – with a focus on communities of color. At the end of the session, attendees will have the opportunity to visit an Artist Housing project currently in development by Continuum Partners.