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Janine Shea

The Challenges of Living Large: Scaling Up Sustainable Urban Growth | BSR Insight | BSR - 0 views

    • Janine Shea
       
      Get city departments talking to each other - breaking out of their silos! More accessible ways to communicate with each other - CASUAL, i.e. social network
  • Just like in corporations, setting goals and having a vision proves to be an essential start for cities that want to engage business.
  • Matthew Lynch, the project lead, said one of the main success factors is the opportunity for direct and open dialogue. “
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  • The companies in the UII are engaging collaboratively with cities upstream in the planning process, demonstrating the value of the early involvement of business and showing how a multisector group of leading companies can help cities find integrated solutions to interconnected challenges,” he said.
  • The “solution landscape” presents a menu of potential options for cities to address their key sustainability challenges. Lynch said one of the main success factors is the opportunity for direct and open dialogue. “Business adds value by being involved in the beginning, looking at the big plan, and looking at the issues landscape and challenges,” he said. WBCSD decided to work with multiple companies as opposed to a more ad hoc engagement to encourage the idea that it was business, not just individual companies working with cities.
  • The WBCSD expects that companies will use the landscape reports to refine their own approaches to working with these cities, targeting specific challenges and opportunities.
  • One significant challenge with deploying sustainable infrastructure solutions in cities is the vastly different time cycles used by business and government.
  • “Our experience is that building trust is critical.
  • there’s a “need for better coordination and understanding among governments, industries, and NGOs so that cities holistically plan for and build the infrastructure of tomorrow rather than create an infrastructure of mismatched components and potentially stranded assets.
  • “The aging population is the fastest-growing cohort, yet most of our cities are designed by men for young men in commerce,” he noted. How will women, children, and the elderly thrive in those cities?
  • At BSR, we know that when business engages stakeholders proactively, the insights gained will lead to more informed decision-making, more valuable collaboration, and more inspired business models.
  • The sooner meaningful engagement is at the forefront of the sustainable urban infrastructure agenda, the sooner we can hit fast-forward and have a chance at truly sustainable growth.
Janine Shea

From Poverty to Power by Duncan Green » Blog Archive » Can Cities build local... - 0 views

  • local and city governments play an increasingly influential role.
  • ‘A ‘local developmental state’ model appears to have emerged in many of the most successful countries and regions, most notably in post-war northern Italy, Southern Germany and in several Scandinavian countries…. The core idea is that sub-national levels of government can, and should, be pro-active in building the institutional and organisational infrastructures required for growth-ori¬ented micro-, small and medium enterprises to emerge and succeed.’
  • They are also at a scale where it is much easier for relatively small organizations to engage at the city level
Janine Shea

Strategies for Unemployed Architects | Recession & Recovery | Architectural Record - 0 views

  • finessing her resume and portfolio, scouring the Web for job openings, networking at full-throttle. She even printed her own business cards.
  • letter of recommendation
  • assemble their portfolio and resume immediately. The longer one waits, the more difficult the task becomes. “Do it the minute you get laid off
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  • a standout resume is vital.
  • “You need to separate yourself from the pack.”
  • Job hunters should also reach out to everyone they know—friends, former coworkers, old classmates, consultants, contractors.
  • spending up to 10 hours a day hunting for a position
  • The occasional job opening she does spot typically requires five-plus years of experience. “Getting a job is harder and harder,” she says. “There are fewer and fewer jobs.”
Janine Shea

Bette Midler's Green Thumb Revitalizes Community Gardens : Architectural Digest - 0 views

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    "We want to build stronger communities," says NYRP executive director Deborah Marton, "and public open spaces are places where people can encounter each other in ways that can do that." NYRP's gardens, which range in size from 2,000 to 15,000 square feet, are the perfect low-stakes opportunity, she says. "It's not the workplace; it's just a place of beauty and pleasure. You go there to plant some stuff, grow some stuff, and get to know your neighbors."
Janine Shea

Why scaling up sustainable urban growth is critical for the planet | GreenBiz.com - 0 views

    • Janine Shea
       
      Love this quote
  • “We cannot apply the same approach for both.”
  • As UTC’s Sisson put it, “When we see cities stepping up and making policies and strategies in support of energy efficiency, that is a clear signal to us.” He also pointed out that city visions can vary dramatically, so it’s important to understand their objectives.
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  • Like other transactional aspects of sustainability, most notably supply chain issues, getting the incentives right allows for greater transparency, better decision-making, and more “sustainable” sustainability solutions.
  • NGOs and civil society organizations can develop credible standards, decipher local issues, and create the environment that supports sustainable urban growth.
  • Business can deploy systems that address real social and environmental challenges — along with the partnership of government and civil society
  • Government policies can create income distribution, economic and social mobility, the right incentives for the private sector to invest, space for truly engaged discussion, and a commitment to longer-term sustainability strategies.
  • City-focused initiatives, lead by NGOs and the private sector, are drawing more attention to the clear opportunities, but the results are still lagging behind the pace of the growing challenges. While innovation is important for developing sustainability solutions, technologies and infrastructure systems that will help achieve sustainable growth already exist. Companies that provide infrastructure systems and components for energy, buildings, and transportation, must push fast-forward to deploy these technologies faster. They can start by collectively understanding the challenges and the role that each stakeholder sector can play in support of sustainable growth:
  • At BSR, we know that when business engages stakeholders proactively, the insights gained will lead to more informed decision-making, more valuable collaboration, and more inspired business models. The challenges are large, but the quiet and unstoppable megatrends are larger. The sooner meaningful engagement is at the forefront of the sustainable urban infrastructure agenda, the sooner we can hit fast-forward and have a chance at truly sustainable growth.
  • Per capita economic activity increases 10 percent with every 5-percentage-point increase in urban population.
  • Just like in corporations, setting goals and having a vision proves to be an essential start for cities that want to engage business. The WBCSD Urban Infrastructure Initiative (UII)
  • “Cities are looking at sustainability as their strategy,”
  • The global infrastructure and technology firm Siemens also entered the fray with its Green City Index, which ranks more than 120 global cities on a variety of environmental dimensions. Cities at the bottom have the greatest opportunities, and the ones at the top have the most lessons to offer
  • “I talk to cities about their strategy and goals just like I would with a company. City CSOs are making the same decisions as companies and have very similar challenges with internal engagement.
  • Matthew Lynch, the project lead, said one of the main success factors is the opportunity for direct and open dialogue. “The companies in the UII are engaging collaboratively with cities upstream in the planning process, demonstrating the value of the early involvement of business and showing how a multisector group of leading companies can help cities find integrated solutions to interconnected challenges,”
  • encourage the idea that it was business, not just individual companies working with cities.
  • The WBCSD expects that companies will use the landscape reports to refine their own approaches to working with these cities, targeting specific challenges and opportunities.
  • Kate Brass, GE Energy’s ecomagination program manager, said there’s a “need for better coordination and understanding among governments, industries, and NGOs so that cities holistically plan for and build the infrastructure of tomorrow rather than create an infrastructure of mismatched components and potentially stranded assets."
Janine Shea

Create Solar Energy Together | Mosaic - 0 views

  • Every Mosaic project is carefully vetted and structured to minimize risk while maximizing benefits to investors and to the planet.
  • Mosaic aims to open up this historic opportunity to everyone by democratizing the way energy is produced and financed.
  • You shouldn't have to choose between making money and making a difference. We created Mosaic to give people a secure place to invest directly in things that are real and create lasting value.
Janine Shea

How Mosaic brings cleantech investing to the masses | GreenBiz.com - 0 views

  • Invest as little as $25, or as much as you want, in clean-energy projects. Earn a princely 6.38 percent interest annually for the next five years. Make the world a better place.
  • Mosaic, based in Oakland, Calif., has figured out how to crowdsource solar projects in a way that seems to be a win-win for everyone. For each project, it seeks investors — smaller fries, like you and me — to fund a given project, promising a respectable rate of return. As loans get repaid, investors can roll the proceeds back into new projects, or take the money and run. Think of it as Kickstarter for clean energy.
  • He dropped out of Yale in 2002 to help build a youth movement for climate solutions.
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  • “30 under 30” in energy by Forbes.
  • Their company started slowly, garnering interest-free investments from individuals to fund solar installations on five community projects. They range from homes on a Navajo reservation in Arizona to the Asian Resource Center in Oakland. All are smallish installations
  • I invested $100 in the Asian Resource Center installation in 2011, in equal parts to support the fledgling company as well as a social-service organization in my hometown
  • Those first projects were funded using a zero-interest investment model similar to Kiva, where investors get their principal back over time but no interest. This allowed Mosaic to avoid federal regulation and to go to market, learn the business, get feedback, and show traction for the idea. At the same time, it launched into the process of registering with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal agency that governs investment firms.
  • More recently, the company started raising money for projects in which it would pay interest. It can do this while waiting for SEC approval thanks to something called Regulation D, which exempts from regulatory oversight the offer and sale of up to $1 million of securities in a 12-month period.
  • A small group of investors was invited to put in as little as $25 and have been promised a return of 6.38 percent over five years.
  • The project is projected to save the youth center more than $160,000 through reduced electricity costs.
  • I invested $200 in this project as part of Mosaic’s private “beta” investment round
  • nlike investing in CDs, there are risks in Mosaic’s projects. The solar-installation customer could default on its monthly payments. The solar anels or installation could be faulty, tying the project up with repairs, negotiations, or worse.
  • If I want, I can reinvest the earned interest and repaid principal in other Mosaic projects with the click of a button.
  • “As an asset class, the default rates on solar leases and power purchase agreements are extremely low,”
  • There are a lot of unknowns: the number of people willing to invest sums, small or large, in energy projects offered by a start-up with a very short track record; the cost of attracting and servicing these investors; the number of available investment-quality energy projects; the actual performance of those projects during the life of the investments;
  • Together with a $2 million grant from the Department of Energy
  • , the company aims to scale its offerings, including geographically, to get millions of Americans involved with funding clean-energy projects.
  • It’s a bold idea: Raise money from the masses in order to bring solar to the masses, providing value to everyone along the way.
  • Having proved the concept, Parish and Rosen are now ready to kick things into high gear, throwing open the doors to all qualified investors.
  • “The economics of solar have begun to make sense in more places, and online investing and peer-to-peer finance are becoming widespread. Those are the two big forces that we’re a part of.”
  • I asked him why no one had done this before. “It’s a really difficult set of skills and competencies that you need to pull together on one team to make this business model work,” he explained. “You need the securities law expertise. You need the solar project finance expertise. You need the technology expertise to build the online investment platform, and you need the marketing expertise to get people to invest in the projects.”
  • For each project, Mosaic provides the underwriting and due diligence. “If we like it and it meets our investment committee’s criteria, we make a loan offer to the project developer or the project owner, and negotiate a loan to them.” Mosaic takes a servicing fee (the difference between the interest rate charged the developer and the rate pays investors) and an origination fee of between 3 and 5 percent of the loan, which the developer pays. Mosaic doesn’t do the installation itself — it contracts that out.
  • Clearly, not yet a pathway to riches. What’s needed is volume.
  • “Our goal is to be doing billions of dollars of investments a year in clean-energy projects,
  • “We have already had a lot of developers coming to us," he says. "We’re interested in offering high-quality, clean-energy projects for people to invest in.
  • We believe clean energy is good in and of itself and is a great asset class for investment. So we’re looking at all kinds of projects.”
  • It’s not just solar. Parish and Rosen are looking at a broader category of projects to finance — what they call clean-energy infrastructure. That includes other forms energy as well as energy-efficiency projects and electric-vehicle infrastructure.
  • All told, 51 investors ponied up $40,000 for the 106-panel installation; the whole project got funded in just six days. I’ve already received my first interest payment.
  • However it plays out, it’s a compelling and potentially disruptive business model. Allowing smaller investors to participate in clean-energy investments is an exciting possibility. And the relatively predictable returns of solar
  • can make these investments a safer bet than many traditional Wall Street investment vehicles.
  • And not for just small guys. Imagine if larger mission-driven investors, including pension funds and university endowments, started pouring money into Mosaic. The expanding investment pools could rapidly accelerate the growth of renewable energy and efficiency projects in the marketplace.
  • “I think a lot of people are just excited about the model,” says Parish, “and have been wanting to find a place that they can feel good about investing, that they can also generate pretty good yield from. And that’s what we’re trying to do.”
  • Parish makes a point: Some of this is an exercise in feel-good investing. But that’s nontrivial: How many of your investments do you feel good about? Even some of the so-called socially responsible funds hold stocks of fossil-fuel companies and other corporate nasties in their portfolios. If the nascent trend of disinvestment in fossil-fuel companies takes off among climate-minded investors, where will they next put their money? If Parish and Rosen have their way, there will be a new generation of cleaner investment alternatives to be found — perhaps, like me, right in your own community.
Janine Shea

The Most Overlooked b2b Funding: Customer Funded Development | Tech Wildcatters - 0 views

    • Janine Shea
       
      How effective has the Urban Investment Group been since active?  Good business flow? Meeting target returns, objectives?  How do they currently source their investments - are they satisfied with these solutions?
  • how do you keep the IP? First of all, this only works when you’re developing IP that is not in one of the sponsoring company’s lines of business.
  • In the case of adding to their product mix, licensing and royalty deals can be made to keep the IP in your company. You may even offer to pay back the development costs as you grow your company. However, if you’re building something that the sponsor will use in operations, it’s unlikely they want to be out there selling it, so act under the assumption that they don’t want to own the IP. It’s all in the contract, so get a good lawyer. NEVER do this part yourself.
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  • Who is your decision maker? Who is your champion?
  • Is this a product they could sell or is it for operations?
    • Janine Shea
       
      Operations
  • In CFD, more so that any type of sale, you are not selling a product. Because nothing is built yet (or at least finished), you’re selling your ability to solve a problem for a group of individuals. Those individuals are probably looking at that problem a lot differently than you are, and through the lens of many conflicting or ambiguous goals. Rather than speculate and depend on your own understanding of the problem, you have to get into their heads. In short, you have to ask AND listen. They will tell you. But you will miss it if you’re not open to it. In the words of one of the world’s great innovators, Steve Jobs, you have to go in with a Beginner’s Mind.
  • The easiest way to get a customer to pay for development is to know that they’re facing some major change or challenge, and they have no other choice but to find a solution.
Janine Shea

Creative class - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

  • It is composed of scientists and engineers, university professors, poets and architects, and also includes "people in design, education, arts, music and entertainment, whose economic function is to create new ideas, new technology and/or creative content”
    • Janine Shea
       
      Customer segmentation variables
    • Janine Shea
       
      Demographic - Occupation, Education, Location, Income, Social class Psychographic (LIFESTYLE) - Activities, Interests, Opinions (AIO Survey), Values, Attitudes Behavioral (towards PRODUCTS) - Benefits sought, Usage rate, Brand loyalty, Readiness to buy
  • Employers see creativity as a channel for self-expression and job satisfaction in their employees. About 38.3 million Americans and 30 percent of the American workforce identify themselves with the Creative Class.
  • cities which attract and retain creative residents prosper, while those that do not stagnate. This research has gained traction in the business community, as well as among politicians and urban planners. Florida and other Creative Class theorists have been invited to meetings of the National Conference of Mayors and numerous economic development committees, such the Denver mayor's Task Force on Creative Spaces and Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm's Cool Cities Initiative.[1]
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  • members of the Creative Class value meritocracy, diversity and individuality, and look for these characteristics when they relocat
  • For a city to attract the Creative Class, he argues, it must possess "the three 'T's": Talent (a highly talented/educated/skilled population), Tolerance (a diverse community, which has a 'live and let live' ethos), and Technology (the technological infrastructure necessary to fuel an entrepreneurial culture)
  • “the Creative Class share of the workforce; innovation, measured as patents per capita; high tech industry, using the Milken Institute's widely accepted Tech Pole Index…; and diversity, measured by the Gay Index, a reasonable proxy for an area’s openness"
  • Creative workers are looking for cultural, social, and technological climates in which they feel they can best "be themselves".
  • active participation in a variety of experiential activities.
  • Street Level Culture
  • hard to draw the line between participant and observer, or between creativity and its creators”
  • interest in being participants and not spectators
    • Janine Shea
       
      Don't be a tourist. Find the local in you.
  • Super-Creative Core: This group comprises about 12 percent of all U.S. jobs. It includes a wide range of occupations (e.g. science, engineering, education, computer programming, research), with arts, design, and media workers forming a small subset. Florida considers those belonging to this group to “fully engage in the creative process” (2002, p. 69). The Super-Creative Core is considered innovative, creating commercial products and consumer goods. The primary job function of its members is to be creative and innovative. “Along with problem solving, their work may entail problem finding”
  • 40 million workers—30 percent of the U.S. workforce
  • knowledge-based workers
  • Florida argues that the Creative Class is socially relevant because of its members' ability to spur regional economic growth through innovation (2002).
  • these usually require a high degree of formal education
Janine Shea

How to Tell Your Company's Story | Entrepreneur.com - 0 views

  • Establish common language.
    • Janine Shea
       
      HUGE for us to nail down
  • Ask a handful of people in various ranks and roles to share five adjectives they'd use to describe the company and two aspects of the business that are unique or valuable. Look for themes or especially strong responses, and synthesize them into a clearly defined description
  • That clarity leads to a real and relatable persona that helps you build a loyal customer base. "The brands that have been most successful in the social space have humanized their business"
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  • choose the type of person that could best deliver that message. "You’re creating a persona," Ardakani says. Is it feminine or masculine? Mainstream or quirky? Opinionated or open-minded? If your business was a human being, who would it be and what would it care about?
  • Founder Azita Ardakani redefined Foodily's core value, saying it gives you the opportunity to spend more time eating at home with family and friends. On social media, she asked consumers to share their favorite dinner table memories and what it means to them to eat at home. "We saw a natural conversation erupting," she says.
  • What made Ardakani’s interpretation of Foodily's core value so much more successful was that it created an opportunity for human connection.
  • Your real value is about what you believe in, what you’re trying to do in the world, and how you make others’ lives better.
  • You might ask: How is your product being created? What is your office culture? You're looking for the thing that your organization truly cares about -- an aspect of your business that makes you unique and valuable to the world around you.
Janine Shea

NYC Zoning - Zoning Tools - 0 views

  • Public Access Requirements In all districts, residential, commercial and community facility developments on waterfront zoning lots (except for residential uses in low-density residence districts, heavy commercial and industrial uses in Use Groups 16, 17 and 18, and certain city infrastructure facilities, such as airports) are required to provide and maintain public open space at the water’s edge with pedestrian links to upland communities. Public access is also mandated on piers, platforms and floating structures. Water-dependent uses, such as docks for ferries and marinas, are also required to provide waterfront public access areas but are subject to a more flexible standard.
Janine Shea

Kanye West Comes Out to Support +POOL at Fall Benefit at Brooklyn Bridge Park | Inhabit... - 0 views

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    US Olympian swimmer Conor Dwyer hosted the event, and rapper Kanye West attended in support of the innovative project
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