Angela Glover Blackwell:
PolicyLink’s Driving Force!

More than 1,500 of the nation’s leading social justice advocates, activists and policymakers will descend on New Orleans in early March for the “National Summit on Equitable Development, Social Justice and Smart Growth,” sponsored by PolicyLink.

The conference, from March 5 to 7 at the downtown Sheraton, will focus on a host of national issues, including affordable housing, community health, public infrastructure and policy change. There will, however, be a special focus on the rebuilding of New Orleans, with an emphasis on affecting local, state and federal policy to bring equity in to the process across all racial and socio-economic lines.

Angela Glover Blackwell is the driving force behind both the conference and PolicyLink. From her early days as a lawyer with a public interest law firm representing disenfranchised constituencies, to her work with the Urban Strategies Council and the Rockefeller Foundation, to her founding of PolicyLink, Blackwell is single-minded in her efforts to positively affect the lives of the poor, the disenfranchised and the underserved. Blackwell is a sought-after speaker and facilitator, receiving regular invitations to national and international conferences where participants are struggling to reach consensus.

She has written several books, and regularly writes articles and legal briefs addressing various aspects of economic and social equity and its application to the lives of people of color and other low-income peoples. She collaborated with Tavis Smiley to develop “The Covenant with Black America,” published in 2005, and is a regular commentator on Smiley’s show as well as the public radio show “Marketplace.”

Blackwell founded Policy Link in 1999. Under her leadership, the organization has gained prominence for working across disciplines to advance a comprehensive approach for connecting low-income communities and communities of color to opportunity. We spoke with Blackwell recently about the upcoming conference, about her work, and about what drives her.

Your path in life seems to have been determined early on. Was there a singular moment of epiphany that set you on your course?

There was no single moment that sent me down my path. I grew up in a family – both immediate and extended – that was very committed to the civil rights movement and social justice issues in general. I grew up crawling underneath the dining room table, listening to people talking about these issues. My dad was active with the NAACP and was president of first teachers union in St. Louis. I never really considered doing anything else with my own life.

Tell us a little about your family background. What was your childhood like? Any major influences?

As I look back on my childhood, it seems boring to recall. I really grew up in a very close-knit black middle-class community where we were watched and cared for and stimulated and protected all within the contact of a social group – church, school, volunteering.

They all wanted to make sure we were safe and had expansive views. I’m sure there were bad things happening all around us, but they didn’t get inside that “cocoon of safety.”

I’ve often thought one of the reasons it has been easy for me to devote myself to social justice issues is because I recognize how blessed I was growing up. There’s an obligation to living a life that I would definitely call blessed.

Help our readers understand what Policy Link is and what you do.

PolicyLink, in terms of its mission, organization and issues, is a natural progression about how I’ve learned how change happen. You must be engaged on multiple levels. I have been a community organizer, a public interest lawyer, a foundation executive and a policy advocate. It is important to touch people on the ground, to be informed by their wisdom, to hold their struggle in your sight. You aren’t going to make change if you are afraid of advocacy. You must be a tenacious advocate. And it is important to sustain that progress.

Working with social service agencies, it helped to really inform how the process is about collective progress. When I worked in the foundation world, I learned how to work with people who control the resources and figure out how to frame issues so that foundations understand them. It also helped me understand how to building an institution that can last.
PolicyLink really represents all of those insights coming together.

PolicyLink has been on the ground in New Orleans since just shortly after the storm. Give us your assessment of the main issues we face as we try to rebuild, the problems affecting your progress, and what you’ve been able to accomplish.

PolicyLink’s commitment is to building a society where everybody can participate and prosper. It has become clear that the country’s development pattern has continued to thwart progress. It has entrenched inequality. PolicyLink developed the notion of “Equitable Development” to turn the development process on its head – developing ways listen to people, to constantly reduce disparities Rather than fight market forces, we’re trying to harness market forces to make the changes that people need. That’s a “double bottom line.” This was absolutely needed in New Orleans.

We knew that if we took our wisdom, our policies, our tools, our strategies, and used them in partnership with groups and leaders on the ground, we could make an important contribution. We have felt that people have appreciated it. We are committed to staying here as long as the people of Louisiana feel we have something to offer.

The past 2-1/2 years have been committed to simply making sure the resources the Gulf Coast needs are coming in. It is now time to deliver.

We must rebuild New Orleans so it is better, but also so it is inclusive and welcoming. That is the biggest challenge. New Orleans may be rebuilt as a beautiful city, but it we need to make sure it is welcoming for everyone.

Please tell us about the upcoming conference here in New Orleans.

This is “The Third National Summit on Equitable Development, Social Justice and Smart Growth.”

We have these summits because we realize our framing brings together the housing, education, transportation, and health fields that don’t necessarily sit down together in the same place at the same conference too often. It is a rich assemblage of people who are the most skilled in this kind of work in the nation.

We felt it would be good for the people of New Orleans to have access to this wealth of information and experience. And we also felt it would be good for the participants to see in stark relief how needed these ideas are in a place like New Orleans.