“This veggie lasagna is so fresh and delicious,” said one of the patrons of With Love, Co. A forty- year vegan, the customer told Jacqueline Bellamy-Bey, the owner of With Love, Co., how excited she was to learn that a plant-based eatery had just opened up in Parkville.
The Pitch Competition will feature local business owners competing for up to $500, a panel of judges, and guest speakers Jim Peterson from the Small Business Resource Center and John Brothers from the T. Rowe Price Foundation.
Who gets to be a leader? In Baltimore, community members and social leaders recognized that the nonprofit sector had two issues when it comes to talent development: the qualifications of leadership were not inclusive, and organizations overlooked community members as the most important assets towards addressing the city’s most pressing issues.
Equitable leaders are “more than” their battles, they’re also the devotion they pour into communities and the way that love blossoms into tangible change and dreams within grasp. He was the epitome of the love that can come from growing in Baltimore, and is what love looks like in action.
Thursday, September 26th Baltimore Corps convened a conversation with community, civic and student leaders on the Kirwan Commission. Baltimore Corps C.E.O Fagan Harris welcomed the group and stated the goals of the conversation were to explicitly talk about racial equity and Baltimore city’s strategy in Annapolis.
The most important message we took away from the evening was that all people can and should step up and lead on the Census in their communities--and that the Census is anything but boring. We now know that for every person who isn’t counted we lose $1,800 every year for services that our city needs. Services like Medicaid and Medicare, SNAP, school lunches, community block grants--programs whose funding depends on population.
“…this is Local Color and you’re here for great interviews with Baltimore’s premier thought leaders! Fagan Harris is one such thought leader. As CEO of Baltimore Corps he’s working to provide Baltimoreans opportunities and access to jobs, job training, and other programs that help small business owners. Listen as we discuss hard lessons, respoinding to community feedback, and Fagan remains calm amidst one of my worst fears.”
"Those of us at Baltimore Corps know Baltimore is 'the best place in the world to change the world.' ...
"Baltimore is ripe for social innovation and has the potential to emerge as a city at the forefront of dismantling systems of oppression. We understand that this will not happen without a clear focus on the principles that lead to enduring change: by empowering those closest to the problems facing our communities, shifting how we deploy resources, and remembering that positive impact requires collaboration at all levels, we are well on our way to making this a reality. In 20 years, we envision a city that disrupts the intergenerational cycle of poverty and inequity that has locked out entire communities from opportunity for generations. We invite you to be part of this history-in-the-making."
Read President & CEO Fagan Harris' latest piece on The Rhodes Trust blog...
Fagan is the President and CEO of Baltimore Corps, an organization that enlists talent to advance social innovation in Baltimore and establish a citywide agenda for equity and racial justice. Fagan’s firm sense of place in Baltimore came as a result of his parents moving to the area after facing hostility as an interracial couple in the South. Set on addressing the uprootedness and racial injustice he’d experienced, Fagan’s story below gives insight into how he operates Baltimore Corps and his drive for doing so.
