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FMRA LLC Northampton MVP 2.0 Proposal 2023 v1.pdfCity of Northampton MVP 2.0 Vendor PROPOSAL 10.31.2023 Proposal:City of Northampton MVP 2.0 Vendor Prepared for:Sarah LaValley,Assistant Director with Land Acquisition,Conservation,CPA,of the City of Northampton Prepared by:Jason Lee,Principal,FMRĀ LLC Rev 1 Introduction FMRA is grateful for the opportunity to submit this proposal.We applaud the care and consideration the City of Northampton is taking in issuing the RFP to assist the City in improving its engagement in community planning within “climate vulnerable”populations through social equity-centered project facilitation.We believe our skills,knowledge,and experience (both professional and personal),make FMRA the ideal firm to expand the climate resilience work of the City of Northampton through the MVP 2.0 project.FMRA believes that our job as facilitator is to amplify the voices of marginalized and vulnerable communities by empowering them with the tools and language to advocate more effectively for themselves.We use empathy based design tactics and tools to bridge communication gaps between stakeholders of different cultural and social backgrounds.We help clients and communities co-design pathways,policies,and behaviors to achieve their social,racial,and environmental justice and equity goals. Vendor Description FMRA is a strategic design consultancy that partners with clients to design for equity in the civic realm.We believe the future of our society will be the product of all our voices -from the least to the most enfranchised citizens of our community.It will be more resilient because it will celebrate multiculturalism,mutual respect,and equity.We use the tools and tactics of design thinking,human centered design,architecture,and urban design to help our clients realize their part of this vision.Our goal is to empower our clients and communities with the tools,tactics, and language of design to advocate and build a more equitable and just future for everyone. FMRA has three primary workstreams: Organizational Development and Culture,Strategic Planning To dismantle White Supremacist culture requires that we reimagine how organizations are structured and operate.We work with clients to evaluate their internal processes,policies, organizational structures,behaviors,and communication skills so they can live their antiracist values internally with their team and externally through their work. Strategic Initiatives We work to amplify the voices of our clients by helping gather and build communities of collaborators and partners.We work with clients to design,convene,and facilitate large multi-stakeholder engagements around a particular topic or issue. Community Building 1 City of Northampton MVP 2.0 Vendor PROPOSAL 10.31.2023 We believe that in order to build a more equitable world we need to create the space for collective dreaming and conversation.We use our expertise to build community in different ways, whether it’s running affinity groups or facilitating team building exercises. Our clients are primarily nonprofits and government agencies.Previous clients include:The Langara Faculty Association (a local college in Vancouver,Canada),The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA),The Asian Community Development Corporation,The Boston Public Schools,MassHousing (quasi-state financial institution established to build affordable housing in Massachusetts),The Livable Streets Alliance (equity focused transit and mobility non-profit), MassBudget (non-profit state budget watchdog),The Town of Winchester,and others.FMRA has been in operation for 5 years and is led by Jason Lee,Founder and sole proprietor,who works with a close network of contractors and collaborators on various projects. Values and Principles that Guide our Work FMRA believes that working collaboratively is foundational to all civic design projects.We believe that our primary role in every project is to facilitate an inclusive process that enables the stakeholders to design and implement their best vision of the project.This applies to all aspects of the project and to the proposal itself.To unpack how we run a collaborative research and design process,we have highlighted a few of our values which we think are critical to this work: Collective power.Through interviews,workshops,and stakeholder engagement,we embrace collective action and power as an essential part of our work. Consensus based decision making.FMRA believes that when making major decisions all parties that will be impacted by a decision should be informed and given the opportunity to voice opinions.Teams should take the time to align their perspectives and have that alignment reflected in the final decision. Change happens at the speed of trust.Real change takes time and a strong commitment from all stakeholders.We believe it is more important to take our time and build authentic relationships because they are the foundation of lasting and deep positive change. Planned obsolescence:We believe our work as consultants follows the old adage,‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.Teach him to fish and he can feed himself for a lifetime.’While we love working with our clients,we measure our success by the degree to which clients feel empowered to continue the work we do after we have gone. Process In alignment with our values,FMRA uses several design methodologies and tools for all our projects that are rooted in understanding the emotional and intellectual perspectives of the stakeholders to build durable and inclusive spaces.In addition to many documents and resources related to antiracism,our process centers around two nested design methodologies: 2 City of Northampton MVP 2.0 Vendor PROPOSAL 10.31.2023 Design Thinking is a design methodology that prioritizes empathy and iteration.It tries to authentically connect with stakeholders and create a safe space for failure and experimentation. Design Thinking has a prescribed set of steps that are repeated as needed --Empathize,Define, Ideate,Prototype,and Test --which we saw reflected in the process laid out in the RFP (albeit using different language).We believe that Design Thinking can be a powerful tool in building a more equitable future and have successfully used it to empower many of our clients. Human-centered design (HCD)is a component of Design Thinking that prescribes how stakeholders are engaged to inform design decisions.It prioritizes building a deep understanding of people’s experiences,needs,and aspirations in order to create meaningful and sustainable solutions.For our proposed process,qualitative data from stakeholder interviews would be synthesized into organizational insights that will drive the remaining strategy and process.We will consistently refer back to those findings and hold frequent retrospectives to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our stakeholders. Participatory Action Research (PAR)is a framework for conducting research and generating knowledge centered on the belief that those who are most impacted by research should be the ones taking the lead in framing the questions,the design,methods,and the modes of analysis of such research projects. Project Team Jason Lee (He/Him,Chinese Canadian/American),Founder and Principal -Jason has been working in the social innovation sector for over 10 years.Since founding FMRA in 2018,He has led social justice and racial equity projects with a variety of non-profit,institutional,and government clients. Outside of FMRA,Jason is the Board Chair for the Livable Streets Alliance,a member of the Executive Committee of the Planners of Color Network,and a mentor and member of the advisory board at MIT’s DesignX social innovation accelerator program.He also is a town meeting member of Winchester,where he lives.Jason has a B.A.in Anthropology from McGill, and a M.Arch from the University of Toronto. Qualifications All FMRA team members have completed the following trainings "Fundamentals of Facilitation for Racial Justice,"by the Interaction Institute for Social Change,“Facilitating Cultural Change,”with Beth Zemsky (both as a co-facilitator and participant),“Design Thinking/Human Centered Design,”courses by Ideo U,and “Facilitative Leadership for Social Change,”by the Interaction Institute for Social Change. Additional Experience FMRA has worked on a number of projects that follow community engagement principles and practices such as Participatory Action Research and Human Centered Design.We have adapted many techniques and processes from Restorative Justice to guide our interactions and 3 City of Northampton MVP 2.0 Vendor PROPOSAL 10.31.2023 relationship building with local community members and stakeholders.Our engagement and research processes prioritize lived experience and narrative (also sometimes referred to as qualitative data)to validate quantitative data and observations.Here are some examples how this works in a project: 1.The Asian Community Development Corporation’s (ACDC)Rebuilding Neighborhoods Advisory Group.The Rebuilding Neighborhoods Initiative was a multi-neighborhood effort to think through the issues of affordable housing and gentrification in the Greater Boston area.It was started by the Asian Community Development Corporation (ACDC),who invited the Alliance for Business Leadership (ABL)to co-convene the initiative and FMRA to design and facilitate the sessions.Through generous funding from Toast and The Boston Foundation,it brought together multiethnic,multi-disciplinary leaders from the innovation sector,public sector,and local communities to form an advisory group with the goal of developing strategies to address affordable housing and gentrification issues in Greater Boston.Over the course of a year,we convened 6 workshops to learn about other local efforts to combat gentrification and economic displacement and to develop three proposals for local projects in each of our target communities (Chinatown Boston,Union Square in Somerville,and Fenway Boston).We gathered local community members, CBOs,small business owners,and major corporations from these neighborhoods, conducted one on one interviews with everyone to understand their pain points and aspirations,and guided them through a co-design process.The project culminated in proposals for projects in each of the three neighborhoods. 2.Boston Society of Architects (BSA)Social Equity Frameworks Projects.FMRA has received grant funding to research social equity frameworks.A social equity framework is a plan of action to address issues of social,civic,racial,and environmental justice that accompanies an architectural or urban design project.It describes measures that the architect and developer will take beyond the construction of their project that will contribute to the civic and social health of the community.While many municipalities mandate contributions to public art funds,affordable housing funds,and public space, there are no standards or requirements for more direct contributions to the local community or to community based organizations.As a result,there is little incentive for developers and architects to really understand the needs of the local community and collaborate with them on design solutions,nor is there a structural model for long-term engagement with communities.A social equity framework fills this gap.FMRA will conduct over 60 interviews with local community members,SMEs,architects,planners, developers,and others to research examples of urban design and architectural projects that have social equity frameworks in order to understand the underlying conditions, approaches,partnerships and co-design models.Following this initial research phase,we will synthesize a basic social equity framework and discuss it widely,working toward a pilot project with willing municipalities,architects,and developers.The pilot would enable 4 City of Northampton MVP 2.0 Vendor PROPOSAL 10.31.2023 us to refine the framework and templates and financial models to eventually deploy it for all design and construction projects in the greater Boston area (and beyond).Similar to how the USGBC developed LEED accreditation,ultimately we envision a certification system that promotes/mandates the inclusion of social equity considerations in all architectural and urban design projects. 3.The Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA)2023 Leadership Summits.FMRA was invited by the community engagement office of the BPDA to convene a series of three leadership summits to address issues of organizational culture and strategic planning as it relates advancing the Wu administration's goals of racial and social justice for the organization’s internal operations as well as for urban planning in the city.Through the workshops,the leadership team co-designed a series of projects which would combat White Supremacy culture inside the BPDA,set the policy and behavior foundations for internal and external projects,and clarify the sequence for the implementation of their strategic plan.We conducted numerous one on one interviews with staff and leadership and designed and processed several surveys to understand the cultural and structural issues of the BPDA. 4.Masshousing Community Services Department Transformation project.FMRA was engaged by MassHousing,the quasi-state financial institution that supports the development of affordable housing,to redesign and restructure their Community Services Department. We interviewed over 50 residents of various affordable housing communities from the Berkshires,to Springfield,and the greater Boston area.We also interviewed staff and facilities managers of numerous developments all in an effort to understand the needs and aspirations of the residents and local communities.We then selected a few community members and staff to co-design new services and processes with the leadership team of the Community Services Department to be rolled out across MassHousing’s portfolio of developments. Project Understanding FMRA is particularly qualified to support this project because of our values and process alignment with the MVP 2.0 project process guide.Our experiences co-designing with and facilitating community led social equity projects make us ideal candidates for this kind of work. Additionally,the clarity of the process (as described in the MVP 2.0 Process Guide)and the deliverables (as described in the RFP)make it extremely easy for FMRA to engage in and lead the project. Scope of Services Please refer to the Scope of Services described in the RFP. 5 City of Northampton MVP 2.0 Vendor PROPOSAL 10.31.2023 Project Schedule,Budget,and Commitment FMRA acknowledges and commits to the responsibilities,timeline,and budget of the work proposed in the RFP.FMRA is familiar with the MVP 2.0 Process Guide and proposes no changes to the budget provided in the RFP. References Angie Liou Executive Director of the ASIAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION E:angie.liou@asiancdc.org T:(617)482-2380 #205 Ben Peterson Director,Community Design &Member Engagement at the Boston Society of Architects E:bpeterson@architects.org T:(617)391-4014 Reuben Kantor Senior Advisor for Strategy and Operations at the Boston Planning and Development Agency E:reuben.kantor@boston.go T:(617)372-2936 (mobile) Thaddeus Miles Director of the Community Services Department at MassHousing E:TMiles@masshousing.com T:(857)272-8983 Conclusion Thank you for taking the time to peruse our very short proposal.The clarity of the RFP and supporting documents made it fairly straightforward to prepare this proposal.I understand that our primary responsibility with this project is to connect authentically with the local EJ community (and city staff)and effectively run the process laid out in the MVP 2.0 Process Guide.If you have time,I encourage you to look at our website -https://www.fmra.space/.I would love to discuss this project and our proposal further with you. Sincerely, Jason Lee,Principal and Founder of FMRA LLC. 6