My first get-together was with Jim Johnson , head of the Kenan Institute's Urban Investment Strategy Center and Urban Entrepreneur Corps. The center's mission is to pursue entrepreneurial approaches to rejuvenating economically distressed communities, regardless of whether they're urban or rural. You can't solve pressing societal problems if you're always asking for money or if you're always lobbying the legislature. One way to do that is to leverage money with the private sector. In poor communities, we know about boycotts, mostly.
Leverage is the opposite of that.
In Chattanooga, Tennessee, we're working with a housing facility to negotiate with the two nearest grocery stores. Another way is to pursue cause-based marketing alliances. This isn't buying based on where you live but on your association. You're not asking for charitable dollars. It's a business deal.