Partner Feature - Marina LaGrave highlights the importance of language and cultural competence in community building

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Marina LaGrave, whom Trestle has been partnering with on many projects over the last several years, explains in a Daily Camera portrait why language access and cultural competence are critical aspects when working to build inclusive communities. 

As explained in the article, Marina wears different hats: she is an interventionist at Columbine Elementary School in Boulder - where Danica met her when her kids were students there; she is an interpreter and translator for the City of Boulder; and she is the founder of CLACE - the Latin American Center for Arts, Science and Education. As such, we have had the pleasure of collaborating with Marina on many projects, including: 

  • The Ponderosa Community Stabilization project: over the past 5 years, Marina has been instrumental in engaging the Latinx community of the Ponderosa Mobile Home park. She continues to serve as a cultural liaison between the City, the project team, and the Spanish-speaking residents, thanks to the fact that she has been able to gain all parties’ trust by patiently listening to and answering any and all questions. 

  • The Cultural Responsiveness and Inclusion Strategic Plan (CRISP) for the Boulder County Parks and Open Space (POS) department: over the last year, we have been working with Marina and her colleague Bob Russel on the CRISP for the BoCo POS department. Marina has been working relentlessly to connect the POS department with Latinx leaders in the region, and think creatively about how to co-create active and lasting partnerships between the Latinx community and the POS department.

  • The COVID-19 Pandemic Impact Study: for this 2-month, fast-track project, we are partnering with Marina to recruit Latinx community leaders and activists to co-create a process to interview members of the Latinx community and gather stories on how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting them. Thanks to Marina’s extensive network and community connections, we were able to hear from 115 community members and help identify barriers in accessing County services and gaps in those services.

From left to right: Marine, Marina, and Danica at a Ponderosa Community Block Party in June 2019

From left to right: Marine, Marina, and Danica at a Ponderosa Community Block Party in June 2019

As we practice adaptive leadership in all those projects, we keep learning from Marina on such important topics as co-creation, cultural competence, and inclusivity. We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with her and are looking forward to many more opportunities to do so.  

Marine Graduates from ULI's Real Estate Diversity Initiative Program

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On Monday I graduated from the Urban Land Institute Real Estate Diversity Initiative! REDI provides women and people of color the opportunity to attend a comprehensive training in real estate development.

As a complement to classes covering the spectrum of the real estate development process, we worked in small teams to create a development plan and pro forma for a 110,000 sq. ft. site in the Westwood neighborhood in Denver. In an effort to provide Westwood residents with the opportunity to start building generational wealth, our team came up with a site plan where all housing units were affordable and for sale. We also integrated a large plaza and a childcare center for the benefit of the community. You can watch our team's presentation by clicking on the image on the right.

I am very proud of our team's vision, and very grateful I was able to participate in the 2020 REDI program. Huge thanks to the Urban Land Institute, my team members, mentors Rich Wilson, Richard Epstein, and Ken Hoagland, and coordinator Kimberly Ford (Ming), and my colleague, mentor, and friend Danica Powell.

Presenting at ULI - Is Boulder Living Up to its Values? A Solution-Driven Discussion on Smart Growth, Affordable Housing, and Measuring up to our Community’s Values.

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ULI tackled an important question in Boulder on Tuesday night. Is Boulder Living Up To Its Values? We focused on how Boulder is aligned or not aligned with the stated community goals in our Comp Plan and debated some controversial topics like middle income housing, good design, neighborhood planning, economics versus land use, building heights, parking caps, and the all elusive “community benefit”. I joined John Tayer, Chris Meschuk, Laura Sheinbaum, Jeff Hohensee, Masyn Moyer and Jarvie Worcester on the stage to debate this topic from several angles as it relates to affordable housing, smart growth, placemaking and mobility.

We debated Form Based Code (PROS: predictable, quick, less risk - CONS: prescriptive, inflexible and no room for innovation) versus traditional development review (PROS: negotiation opportunity, flexibility CONS: unpredictable, risky, and lukewarm results).

I focused on the community benefit debate to give examples of how we are providing benefit in the wide range of projects Trestle has worked on in Boulder. Along the way, I agreed with Jeff’s comment that it often feels like a game of “whack a mole” and the results can often be death by a thousand cuts. And the consensus was the results may not be reflecting the ambitious, progressive, innovative community we all are proud of.

Most importantly, we all tried to provide solutions to the question “Can we do better?”. While there is no silver bullet, there were lots of great ideas discussed, including bold leadership, predictable processes, Form Based Code, equitable community participation, and innovative housing shifts. I suggested that we harness the millennial energy to bring new ideas to the table and connect the innovation with the doers and implementers and decision makers to create a path forward.

Click here to see the Facebook Livestream or review the full panel’s presentation deck here.