Following on the heels of last year’s Emerging City Champion Friends of The Underline’s YPO Underlounge (pictured here), twenty creative urbanists will join the 2017 Emerging City Champions fellowship program, an initiative of 8 80 Cities funded by Knight Foundation. Now in its third year, the program empowers young leaders to experiment with new solutions to urgent challenges in their cities.

Champions will receive $5,000 in funding to implement an innovative project to enhance public spaces, mobility or civic engagement in their city over the next 12 months.

Before embarking on their city building mission, the fellows will convene in Toronto for the Emerging City Champions Studio. The studio is a four-day workshop where the champions will refine their project ideas, and hone skills such as storytelling, inclusive community engagement and project management. Most importantly, the champions will learn from each other, and develop a support network to provide guidance and encouragement throughout the year.

The studio will feature neighborhood tours, interactive workshops and presentations from established city leaders such as Gil Penalosa, founder of 8 80 Cities, and Jason Roberts, founder of Better Block. Four past champions will join us in Toronto to provide mentorship and inspiration, including Alex Peay (Philadelphia), Cornetta Lane (Detroit), Amanda Zullo (Charlotte, North Carolina), Kia Moore (Charlotte), and Richard Young (Lexington, Kentucky).

Despite the modest budget and short timeline, the champions have ambitious ideas to improve their communities. This year’s group wants to drive positive change in the way people eat, play, move, build, create, live and work in their cities. Among the winners are those who want to eliminate food deserts, empower youth through art, raise literacy rates, help civic nightlife thrive and revitalize neglected urban spaces.
The 2017 cohort will join an impressive network of Emerging City Champions who have taken their small ideas to unimaginable heights since the program began in 2015. Based on the success of previous winners, expectations for this group are high. With the support of Knight Foundation and 8 80 Cities and the encouragement of their peers, we are confident that this year’s fellows will rise to the challenge and lead meaningful change in their communities.

Find the complete list of 2017 emerging champions here.