Presentation by Mordecai Cargill, ThirdSpace Action Lab

Friday, September 11th at noon

ThirdSpace Action Lab (Cleveland, Ohio) Co-Founder + Creative Director, Mordecai Cargill will describe how the legacy and intransigence of structural racism have indelibly shaped the context in which urban design practitioners pursue efforts to positively impact the built environment. This lecture will revisit the inextricable links between Race + Place + Historical Memory as the starting point for a more critical interrogation of how we understand the work of (re)building equitable + inclusive communities. This lecture will also introduce participants to ThirdSpace Action Lab’s work—both locally + nationally—and highlight some of the ways the firm, its clients + collaborators have begun to turn insights into action through Community Collaboration, Research + Strategy Design, and Space Activation. The lecture will be followed by an accelerated Soul Work Session, during which the TSAL Team will facilitate an Applied Racial Equity + Inclusion Controlled Experiment to demonstrate the firm’s Impact Continuum: Constant Awareness Building + More Thoughtful Action.

SPEAKER BIO

Mordecai Cargill is a co-founder + Creative Director of the ThirdSpace Action Lab, a grassroots research, strategy & design cooperative, dedicated to prototyping creative place-based solutions to complex socio-economic problems. Mordecai’s key roles & responsibilities include (but are not limited to): Research, Analysis & Evaluation; Storytelling, Insights & Content Creation; and Creative Direction & Brand Management. Prior to starting this exciting venture, Mordecai served as the Director of Strategy, Research & Impact at Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP), a community development funding intermediary committed to fostering inclusive neighborhoods of choice and opportunity throughout the city of Cleveland. Mordecai provided oversight and analysis for the implementation of the Cleveland Neighborhood Progress 2017-2021 Strategic Plan, focused primarily on 3 key areas of activity: Program Design and Evaluation; Research and Thought Leadership; and Partnership and Resource Development. Since joining Team CNP in 2014 as Manager of Fund Development, Mordecai’s responsibilities have included project management for strategic initiatives such as an Organizational Assessment (2014), and the planning process for the 2017-2021 Cleveland Neighborhood Progress Strategic Plan (2016). He also contributed to CNP’s emerging Policy, Advocacy & Research body of work, and co-leads the organization’s efforts to elevate racial equity and inclusion as a citywide community development priority. Mordecai earned his BA in African American Studies from Yale University, with a concentration on Black Culture in the 20th Century. He was awarded the William Pickens Prize for his Senior Thesis entitled, “The Black Arts Iconography of John Coltrane.”

Social media: @MCargill28 (Twitter and Instagram)

ABOUT TSAL

ThirdSpace Action Lab was created to disrupt the vicious cycle of disinvestment and displacement that negatively impacts the vitality of low-income communities of color. We are a grassroots research, strategy & design cooperative, dedicated to prototyping creative place-based solutions to complex socio-economic problems. We are institutional and community organizers, turning multidisciplinary research into evidence-based strategies; and activating “third places” to co-creating more liberated spaces for people of color. We believe that the future of Cleveland’s neighborhoods depends on our collective efforts to transcend the limitations of the popular imagination and consider what will be possible if we insist on the beauty of forgotten places, the value of the people who live there, and seize the opportunity to realize our shared vision for an equitable and inclusive society. We are committed to making this vision a reality. We believe that racial equity and inclusion are central, non-negotiable components of a viable growth strategy. We believe that human-centered design framework applied in communities of color should be inspired by all residents—especially, those who called this place home before its revitalization. Above all, we believe in the sanctity of humanity—that all humans have intrinsic value, deserve beauty, and need more than their basic needs satisfied.