The Inclusive Placemaker, 34

 Vice President of External Affairs, NewTown Macon

Tell us about your vocation. Why did you choose it?

I work for NewTown Macon, an independent non-profit focused on downtown revitalization and economic development. We provide loans and coaching to entrepreneurs and real estate developers, we keep our public spaces clean and beautiful, and we promote and program downtown Macon.

I lead our outward-facing programs which include marketing our organization and promoting downtown as a destination with our Director of Marketing, planning the events you know and love that take place downtown, and maintaining our Main Street accreditation.

In 2017, I became Macon’s Main Street manager, and that eventually led to my role at NewTown Macon, where I have the opportunity to drive downtown’s revitalization with our talented team.

Tell us about your activities in the community, especially what you’re most excited about.

If you have ever tried a special during the French Fry Fight or Fair Food Frenzy, watched a movie projected onto Bibb Theatre’s façade, read a post with “Share the Hype” logo promoting a downtown event on your friend’s Facebook page, or read an “Insider’s Guide” in Macon Magazine, you’ve experienced some of the initiatives we lead.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Leading the application process that enabled NewTown Macon to win the Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) is at the top of my resume. I have been part of the Main Street network for the past six years and winning GAMSA is the pinnacle for any Main Street Manager. What makes this achievement special for me is that I had the opportunity to tell the story of the community and the people that I love.

How do you think Macon is aligning to become a more inclusive place? How has that shaped your values and actions?

Macon is a community that plans and a community that gets things done. Our community planning processes have helped Macon become more inclusive because we are having conversations with each other in meaningful ways. In turn, those conversations inform the strategies we use to improve Macon as a whole.

The Macon Action Plan (MAP) has been a game changer for that reason. MAP created a framework for collecting community input and creating strategies that resonated with Macon’s citizens. Most importantly, MAP created a system of accountability and community-driven implementation that has made downtown more diverse, more inclusive, and more equitable.

What is your vision for our community?

My vision for our community is for the success of downtown and the lessons learned from its revitalization to be applied to every neighborhood throughout Macon. Not that long ago, downtown was the worst of the worst, but now it’s the best of the best.

What we have accomplished downtown should serve as an inspiration and a catalyst for other areas of Macon, which is entirely possible. Thankfully, the Macon Action Plan is leading that effort to expand downtown’s success to every corner of the urban core and beyond.

Right now, what is the best thing going on in Macon?

Our community’s leadership is on the same page in Macon. I often coordinate interviews with community leaders to help promote Macon; I am always amazed that everyone is saying the same thing without a common script or prompting on my part. Our community’s leadership genuinely believes in the power of working together and for our citizens’ best interests, and it shows.

What would be a missed opportunity in Macon?

It would be a missed opportunity if we did not prioritize and maintain space for locals as we grow.

We are primed for rapid growth with the impending designation of Ocmulgee Mounds as a National Park, the national media attention we have garnered, and the monumental projects completed and underway like the Atrium Health Amphitheater. We have been successful so far because locals have been leading these efforts and driving the experience throughout Macon.

Now that “all eyes are on Macon,” as Jessica Walden with the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce says, it’s imperative that we continue to prioritize locals owning property, operating businesses, and investing in ourselves so that we can maintain what makes us different and distinct.