Dividends over Displacement
Development that pays dividends to the community already there — instead of pricing it out. Why ownership, not just affordability, is the real test.
Read on The SignalInsights
The thinking behind the work.
We write in two registers from one set of convictions — institutional analysis on The Signal, accessible civic intel on Power by Design. Below: the flagship pieces, how we segment the thinking, and where to follow it.
Flagship
Start here.
Capital That Stays
Investors call these neighborhoods too risky; philanthropy arrives in bursts. Evergreen capital is built to stay — and compound inside the community.
Read on The SignalThe Algorithm and the Ancestors
Communities generate the data. The next question of power is who governs it — and who profits. A case for data sovereignty.
Read on The SignalThe End of Philanthropy as We Know It
The typical white family holds roughly six times the wealth of the typical Black family. Charity has not closed that gap — capital might.
Read on The SignalHow We Segment
Five domains, one through-line.
Every piece serves the same question — who decides, who benefits, who pays — read through one of five lenses.
Municipal Finance
Bonds, PIDs, PFCs, and tax-increment financing — the machinery of public capital, made legible.
Community Wealth
Ownership over affordability: how value stays with the people already there.
Civic Technology
Data sovereignty, civic platforms, and who governs the information communities generate.
Philanthropy & Giving
From charity to capital — reforming how institutional money transfers power.
Governance & Movement
Accountable leadership, succession, and the discipline of building durable institutions.
Follow the Work
Two publications. Pick your register.
Source Material
Where the thinking comes from.
Twenty-six curated sources across five domains — the reports, platforms, and case studies we return to when the question gets hard.
Reading is the front door. The work goes deeper.
When the thinking meets a decision you're facing, that's where an engagement begins.