HUD Atlanta Region Philanthropic Roundtable Calls for Increased Public-Private Partnerships

Left to right: Beverly Ferguson, Senior Director-Community Affairs, Georgia Pacific Foundation, Michael K. Anderson, President and CEO, Georgia Power Foundation and Daniel Shoy, Jr. President and CEO, Eastlake Foundation.

Left to right; Denise Cleveland-Leggett, HUD SE Regional Administrator facilitating the roundtable discussion and Christopher Taylor, HUD SE Deputy Regional Administrator.

As dozens of philanthropic leaders gathered recently to participate in HUD's 2018 Atlanta Philanthropic Roundtable there was energy, dialogue and laser light focus on HUD SE Regional Administrator Denise Cleveland-Leggett's call for open conversation about how they perceive private-public partnerships meeting the needs of those we mutually serve.

Over forty Atlanta Region philanthropic leaders came together recently as The Department of Housing and Urban Development Southeast Region Administrator Denise Cleveland-Leggett facilitated an engaging discussion at the Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, concerning public-private partnerships innovatively sharing their experiences on how best to move the dial of progress forward when it comes to helping vulnerable populations become self-sufficient.

"Many of HUD's programs are structured as public-private partnerships or have significant public-private aspects," said Cleveland-Leggett. "Philanthropic leaders here today possess a wealth of experience and understanding about how we can potentially leverage these partnerships in new and exciting ways that bring hope and opportunity to help HUD assisted-families become self-reliant."

Drawing on the responses and active engagement throughout the day it became apparent that a real-world opportunity exists for more public-private dialogue with HUD to identify potential methodologies to help those we serve, and their communities especially given the breadth of experience at the roundtable. Additionally, a general call to better understand each organization and HUD's role would be mutually beneficial in subsequent discussions.

Cleveland-Leggett emphasized the new HUD Secretarial initiative entitled Envision Centers which is a public private partnership premised on the notion that financial support alone is insufficient to solve the problem of poverty. Intentional and collective efforts across a diverse set of organizations are needed to implement a holistic approach to foster long-lasting self-sufficiency.

These HUD recognized centers holistically address the challenges of fostering and achieving self-sufficiency for HUD-assisted families by focusing efforts and resources at these four main pillars: (1) Economic Empowerment, (2) Educational Advancement, (3) Health and Wellness, and (4) Character and Leadership.

The Economic Empowerment pillar is designed to improve the economic sustainability of individuals residing in HUD-assisted housing by empowering them with opportunities to improve their economic outlook. The Education pillar seeks to bring educational opportunities directly to HUD-assisted housing and includes partnering with public and private organizations that approach education in non-traditional ways on non-traditional platforms. The Health and Wellness pillar is designed to improve access to health outcomes by individuals and families living in HUD-assisted housing. The Character and Leadership pillar is designed to enable all individuals and families residing in HUD-assisted housing, especially young people, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens by encouraging participation in volunteer and mentoring opportunities.

The following philanthropic organizations participated in the roundtable: Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Georgia Power Foundation, Georgia-Pacific Foundation, Inc., SunTrust Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, United Way, 100 Black Men of America, Atlanta Police Foundation, Blueprint Group Education, C5 Georgia Youth Foundation, CDC Foundation, Cobb Community Foundation, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Community Foundation of Central Georgia, Community Foundation of West Georgia, East Lake Foundation, Enterline Foundation, Frank Ski Kids Foundation, Georgia Apartment Association Foundation, Georgia State University, Georgia Tech, Regional Commission on Homelessness and Sartain Lanier Family Foundation, Inc.

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