EKS Solutions

Operations Management

As a tagalong to the dynamic duo of Gisele Fetterman and Kristen Michaels, I am responsible for the ongoing management of budgeting, bookkeeping and expense tracking for the organization's various initiatives. I support the co-directors in strategic planning, event management, and interfacing with the Braddock community for resource delivery and support. I also provide on-call technical assistance to local residents and Hollander entrepreneurs on various topics including job transitions, fundraising, operations and startups.

CRM Implementation

In anticipation of long-term hires for various positions, the ED of the Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation asked for temporary support for a variety of administrative duties including donation management, year-end tax letters, and contact merging. As part of the engagement, I shortlisted, set up and deployed a new CRM system - Neon CRM - to manage contacts, donations, and grants at a cost savings.

Vacant Property Technical Assistance

Upon a successful PHARE grant application, I was asked by the WCDC to support their Strong Neighborhoods resident focus group and the development of a strategic document for vacant and blighted property management. In addition to working other consultants for meeting faciliation and planning, I oversaw a borough-wide data collection effort with residents and used the updated vacant property inventory to conduct a neighborhood focused analysis of vacancy trends and opportunities visualized through a series of maps.

Seperately, I am tasked with providing responsive technical assistance for residents who reach out to the WCDC for information and support in acquiring and rehabbing vacant properties. As part of this effort, we will develop and collate a variety of educational resources for residents.

Research

The Youth Violence Prevention Center at the University of Michigan has asked me to participate in a variety of research initiatives that identify and document the effects of vacant land greening and reclamation efforts on a variety of societal outcomes including resident engagement, organizational effectiveness, crime rates. My role as a practitioner helps place findings in context as well as more clearly shape meaningful questions and outreach efforts with research participants. The work will lead to variety of guides, reports, and articles to disseminate findings to the broader network and is done in partnership with the Center for Community Progress.

Based at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, MI-YVPC is a collaboration among University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, economic development, land use, law enforcement, public health and community organizations.

Landscape Design

A property in the Hill District neighborhood housed an underground spring which was discharging water onto the public sidewalk and right-of-way, creating dangerous conditions in cold weather. The Asset Management team asked for a range of design solutions to improve the site and neighborhood conditions. Interventions ranged from simple filter strips to full green infrastructure interventions. This effort was a supplement to my exisiting engagement with the URA, though tapping into my expertise as a licensed Landscape Architect.

LandCare Program Technical Assistance

EKS Solutions LLC was awarded one of two technical assistance contracts for the URA's LandCare program. As one of the original architects of the program, my role is to act as a liason between URA program manager and local contractors as well as the technology company - Loveland Technologies - for issues with the data capture system. I provide on-call technical support for 5 minorty contractors with landscape maintenance contracts on public vacant land within the City of PIttsburgh.

Survey Implementation

I am currently assisting Rising Tide Partners in the customization of the Landgrid application for neighborhood level data collection and analysis. This also includes the input of existing datasets and establishment of neighborhood surveys for ongoing collection efforts.

Rising Tide Partners collaborates with neighborhood organizations and residents to implement their community vision by employing restorative real estate practices, laying the groundwork for the wealth building and stability of residents who have suffered from systemic injustices in land use decisions.

Vacant Land Management Plan

Throughout 2020, I supported the small but effective land bank team in focusing on vacant land management opportunities and planning. I conducted a county-wide analysis of current vacancy and blight conditions with an eye toward a comprehensive multi-municipal vacant land management strategy that identifies points of interventions for individuals, municipalities, and TCLB in a shared responsbility framework.

The Tri-COG Land Bank revitalizes neighborhoods by transitioning abandoned properties to beneficial reuse.

2019-2024 Strategic Plan

In 2019, I was asked by HCV's Executive Director to assist with the updating of their strategic plan. As a new ED, there was an interest in updating the voice behind the strategy, while recognizing that many changes had already been put in motion through the transition. In addition to working with HCV leadershp to update messaging and goal setting, I also supported thinking through implementation plans and associated metrics for the teams. I created the final graphic layout and report for dissemination.

Organizational Systems

With the launch of a new strategic plan and the onset of the pandemic, HCV engaged EKS Solutions again to assist in activating and customizing additional features of their cloud-based software suite, Zoho. This included the development of user guides and best practices to reflect an updated HCV workflow and to document institutional knowledge for future team members. There was a particular focus on updating budgeting processes and expense tracking, grant management, as well as on tools to improve internal communication.

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