A new tool to advance equitable community engagement
Hester Street is proud to announce the launch of Hester Street Open Source – a new online archive and tool to advance equitable community engagement and development.
From 2003-2024, Hester Street worked to ensure neighborhoods are shaped by the people who live in them. Offering planning, design and community development technical assistance, Hester Street worked alongside community-based organizations, government and other agencies to advance equitable, sustainable and resilient neighborhoods and cities.
Although the organization chose to sunset its operations in 2024, the legacy of Hester Street lives on, in the communities served and the projects completed, as well as in the staff leaders incubated by Hester Street. After sunsetting the organization, Hester Street board members worked in collaboration with former staff members to preserve and share the methodological tools developed by Hester Street. The tools included on Hester Street Open Source represent a core sample of Hester Street’s approach to community engagement, and are intended to provide replicable models for practitioners and community leaders across the country to continue advancing community-led planning and design.
“Sharing tools that help people shape their communities crucial to thriving cities and to our larger democratic institutions. The tools found on Hester Street Open Source have the potential to support authentic civic engagement and movements for racial and economic justice moving forward,” said Jose Serrano-McClain, President, Hester Street Board of Directors.
The development of Hester Street Open Source was funded by Leroy Street Studio, the architecture firm which birthed Hester Street, and with generous support from the Surdna Foundation. “Leroy Street Studio remains committed to supporting community-led design processes. We’re proud to support the development of this new tool and the ongoing evolution of this innovative field,” said Shawn Watts, Founding Partner, Leroy Street Studio.
For inquiries related to this archive, or for potential partnerships, contact Sarah Pritchard at sarah@hesterstreet.org.
