The New Urban Leaders - Hardcover

"Ladner intelligently selects case studies that are holistic in their approach to addressing urban problems... 'The New Urban Leaders' thus serves as a source of renewed inspiration for those committed to community-development practice." --Anita Hairston, Urban Ecology, 12/1/2001 "The New Urban Leaders is a good, quick study of the federal policies and subsequent disenfranchisement of the African-American community." --Michaelyn Elder, Black Issues Book Review, 5/1/2002 "Appropriate wherever grassroots organizations are trying to cope with ever-larger gaps in the national safety net." -- Booklist, 8/1/2001 "By drawing attention to the vision characteristics, and successes of the new urban leaders, Joyce Ladner has shown that talented individuals with a deep commitment to social justice can have a dramatic impact on the lives of others. That point alone could help attract others to this vital field of work." --Robert O. Zdenek, United Way of America and National Housing Institute, Shelterforce Online, National Housing Institute, 3/1/2002

Some of today's best urban leaders don't work for the government -they can be found in nonprofit organizations that serve the working class and poor populations. Based on interviews conducted in major cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Washington D.C., and New York, this study focuses on exceptional leaders who have developed effective solutions to the complex problems of our inner cities, including education, economic development, and community safety. The book includes profiles of innovators such as Robert Woodson, founder of the Washington, D.C. based National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, whose work on affordable housing, gang violence, and black entrepreneurship earned a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (the "genius" award); MacArthur Fellowship and Heinz Prize winner Bob Moses, founder of the Algebra Project that prepares low-income students for joining today's technology-dominated workforce; Rheedlen Center head Geoff Canada, who received the Heinz Prize for his "anti-violence among youth" work; and Reverend Eugene Rivers, one of the founders of the Ten-Point Coalition that helped to reduce gang violence in Boston. The New Urban Leadership investigates how and why expert problem solvers chose their career paths, what qualities make them especially successful in their work, and the methods they use to train the next generation of urban leaders.