How Can Urbanists Stay True to Their Values in Trump's America?

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Philadelphia, PA (Next City)

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How can urbanists stay true to their values and maintain integrity while working within an organization that must adapt to a shifting political landscape in ways that conflict with their personal principles?

Sincerely,

A Political Pickle

In many ways, the question of what to do when personal values conflict with organizational requirements is an age-old conundrum. Living under capitalism means constantly having to make values-based tradeoffs in a system that prizes profit over all. Surviving in a world that has commodified the existence of both human beings and mission-driven organizations means individuals and organizations alike must generate income. And what generates income -- what sells -- is rarely in alignment with non-profit values.

There have always been bad actors working in mission-driven organizations, too -- those who parlay their work into personal benefits. Like grant program managers who focus on funding projects that support their personal doctoral studies, for example. Or the scandalous trial of the largest case of pandemic-era fraud -- defendants working at a food security nonprofit allegedly stole $250 million from other nonprofits -- that's played out in Minnesota over the last couple of years.

Other times, the conflict comes from outside -- shifting government agendas that force organizations to contort their language or priorities to survive. When it comes to the values clash generated by a shifting political landscape, the two-party, donkey-versus-elephant infighting known as U.S. politics means that power simply flips back and forth between one of two sides every couple of years or so. In any given moment, one side or another is misaligned with whoever is in power.

Yet there is no doubt that we're living in majorly dysfunctional times. Federal attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion have left government bodies and nonprofits alike scrambling to modify their language and save their funding; public officials are facing threats and legal consequences for questioning the Trump administration's violent and lawless deportations; and sweeping cuts to social programs that serve as a lifeline for millions.

So what can urbanists do?

"The reality is that the effort by the Trump administration to radically downsize the federal government and federal funding and federal programs will likely have a lasting impact," explains Amy Liu, non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institute. This forced adaptation can be morally and ethically difficult, to be sure. But it doesn't need to mean surrender, she says: "It creates enormous opportunities for state and local leaders to experiment and come up with new solutions."

It's not that cities can replace the powerful and important role the federal government plays. But what urbanists and other city leaders can do is get creative -- and collaborative -- about how that vacuum can be filled.

Liu points to the silos that exist between areas like education and workforce development that can be broken down as an example. "We know that we need more flexible dollars versus trying to meet the requirements of categorical programs. How do we use this moment to reinvent our response to big systemic changes that have always been crosscutting in nature anyway?" she posits.

"Rather than be limited by the rules of federal programs, it's a huge opportunity for states and localities to step in and lead the way. This is the moment for people to lean in, because the common-sense majority believes in immigrants, believes that diversity is our strength, and knows we have to prepare for the ravages of climate change," Liu adds.

Plus, "cities are more than just mayors and city governments. Cities are made up of civic collaborations and partnerships and actors that work together to advance the economic health and prosperity and inclusion of their communities. It takes public-private and nonprofit community leaders coming together to solve all of the interconnected issues that cities confront."

One such opportunity is internal, according to Mallory Baches, president of the Congress for the New Urbanism. "We have a set of principles that our mission is based on as an organization," she says. These 34 principles "demonstrate who we are, what our vision is, and how members of CNU work to achieve our vision."

If your organization has yet to outline its values, or hasn't revisited them in some time, Baches sees the current moment as a great opportunity for creating or updating them in order to make navigating the tricky terrain that is the current political landscape easier and clearer. But she's also aware that a good set of values won't provide all the answers an organization needs.

"When my co-lead and I talk about specific situations that we have to navigate in real time, in those cases I think it's important to remember why you do the work that you do and who you're trying to do that work for," she adds.

"I don't want to take anything away from the very dangerous and intentionally divisive current context we're all working in, but it's true that we've navigated a variety of politics before. Anyone who has had any length of career, you've navigated a variety of politics along the way and, presumably, along that path you've held true to your standards and your values. This time is no different. In fact, in this moment, it's all the more important because being a solution to the divisiveness means that you're steadfast in what you know is right for the people that you are trying to serve."

CNU's most recent national convening in Rhode Island as well as its upcoming gathering in Arkansas, for example, focus on regionalism, which is thinking about a given area as part of a broader, more diverse region.

"It's intentionally supporting more coherence, more interconnection, and stronger and healthier communities overall in a region. We've put intentionality toward recognizing that neither of these regions are monoliths and that there are unique perspectives throughout the communities in each of these regions," Baches explains.

"The extreme vulnerability of extremism in general is the defaulting to objectification, to participating in that system of objectification. And I think for any reader of Next City, we all place value on the authenticity of a place and the people who make it real."

The takeaway is this: We're living in a time in which our political system is intentionally divisive because the 99% can't get together and demand better, demand an end to our shared oppression, if we're too busy fighting amongst and ultimately dividing ourselves.

While it's important to stay true to the values and sentiments that make us who we are and drive us to do the work that we do, don't make the mistake of assuming that anyone -- a person, an organization, a community, a political party -- that may hold different views is inherently and completely your opponent.

We're all in this together and have more in common than we realize. We're just trained to focus on our differences rather than our commonalities, lest we get along long enough to identify and undo the systems of oppressions built around us.

This story is provided as a service of the Institute for Nonprofit News’ On the Ground news wire. The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) is a network of more than 475 independent, nonprofit newsrooms serving communities throughout the US, Canada, and globally. On the Ground is a service of INN, which aggregates the best of its members’ elections and political content, and provides it free for republication. Read more about INN here: https://inn.org/.

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