My name is Kristen Jeffers, and I work to bring issues of equity and access to the forefront of the conversation. As founder and editor-in-chief of The Black Urbanist, I challenge my readers to think more broadly about creating vibrancy and great places for all people—including people of color, women, the economically challenged, and the disabled. My work empowers people to take a stand for inclusive, equitable communities.
My story in the movement for walkable, vibrant cities began in my home state of North Carolina, where I saw firsthand how disconnected and underutilized our urban centers had become. Even in the few cities and neighborhoods that were undergoing major revitalization, I found that large swaths of the population were seeing none of the benefits reach their communities. My work through The Black Urbanist, and now with Kansas City’s BikeWalkKC, challenges everyone to imagine a more equitable New Urbanism. #iamcnu
CNU
CNU and its members have worked to address equity issues since the organization’s founding. From working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help rehabilitate failed public housing projects to stitching damaged urban neighborhoods back together through the Highways to Boulevards project, we fight to build more inclusive and equitable places for all users. In October 2014, CNU hosted an Equity and Transportation Summit in New York, NY to explore these issues.