We are delighted to announce our 2023 Beyond the Build Luncheon speaker as Majora Carter, real estate developer, urban revitalization strategy consultant, MacArthur Fellow, and Peabody Award winning broadcaster. Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King & Kittitas Counties’ largest fundraising event of the year will take place on Thursday, June 8 at the new Summit Building at Seattle Convention Center. To register, click here.

Majora Carter is responsible for the creation of numerous economic development, technology inclusion & green-infrastructure projects, policies and job training & placement systems.  She is also a lecturer at Princeton University’s Keller Center. She is quoted on the walls of the Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and Culture in DC: “Nobody should have to move out of their neighborhood to live in a better one” – which is also the subtitle of her 2022 book, Reclaiming Your Community.

Carter applies corporate talent-retention consulting practice to reduce Brain Drain in American low-status communities. She has firsthand experience pioneering sustainable economic development in one of America’s most storied low-status communities: the South Bronx, as well as cities across North America and abroad. 

She and her teams develop vision, strategies and the type of development that transforms low-status communities into thriving mixed-use local economies. Her approach harnesses capital flows resulting from American re-urbanization to help increase wealth building opportunities across demographics left out of all historic financial tide changes. Majora’s work produces long term fiscal benefits for governments, residents, and private real estate developments throughout North America.

In 2017, she launched the Boogie Down Grind, a Hip Hop themed specialty coffee & craft beer spot, and the first commercial “3rd Space” in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx since the mid-1980s. This venture also provides a rare opportunity for local families to invest through SEC approved online investment platforms. 

Her ability to shepherd projects through seemingly conflicted socio-economic currents has garnered her 8 honorary PhD’s and awards such as: 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs, Silicon Alley 100 by Business Insider, Liberty Medal for Lifetime Achievement by News Corp, and other honors from the National Building Museum, International Interior Design Association, Center for American Progress, as well as her TEDtalk (one of six to launch that site in 2006).

She currently serves on the board of directors for STREB and Solar One, and has served on the boards of the U.S. Green Building Council, Ceres, The Wilderness Society, and the Andrew Goodman Foundation.

Majora was born, raised and continues to live in the South Bronx. She is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science (1984), Wesleyan University (1988 BA, Distinguished Alum) and New York University (MFA).  After establishing  Sustainable South Bronx (2001) and Green For All (2007), among other organizations, she opened this private consulting firm (2008) – which was named Best for the World by B-Corp in 2014.

While at Sustainable South Bronx, Carter deployed MIT’s first ever Mobile Fab-Lab (digital fabrication laboratory) to the South Bronx – where it served as an early iteration of the “Maker-Spaces” found elsewhere today.  The project drew residents and visitors together for guided and creative collaborations.  

In addition, Majora Carter launched StartUp Box, a ground-breaking tech social enterprise that provided entry-level tech jobs in the South Bronx, operating it from 2014-2018.  Majora Carter has helped connect tech industry pioneers such as Etsy, Gust, FreshDirect, Google, and Cisco to diverse communities at all levels.

We can’t wait to welcome Majora to Seattle this June! Please join us at the 2023 Beyond the Build Luncheon for an inspiring program. For more information on Majora Carter, please visit www.majoracartergroup.com