Taking stock at the end of 2020: what’s happening at GGWash?

2020 didn’t go as expected. COVID-19 devastated lives, jobs, educations, businesses, plans, and dreams of every stripe. The failure of national leadership in the US to guide us during this profoundly destabilizing threat, and the societal wounds laid bare by moral demands for racial justice and a historic election year, have strained our capacity as people and organizations to chart our paths.

But we adapt, and through this year of uncertainty and suffering, community has been a bright spot for many of us. Our ability as a region, as individuals, and as Greater Greater Washington to change and emerge from these challenges will define our futures, both near-term and long-term.

For the GGWash team, the steadfast support and engagement from our wider community - from the first volunteers who translated ideas and commitment into the organization that reaches thousands of people each day now - is a grounding force that, even in a foggy and confusing time, keeps us focused and will always help us be greater.

Changing with the times

The Washington region’s economic and social recovery will take time, focus, and vision. Greater Greater Washington believes that transportation, housing, and land use policy and programs can do a lot to underpin that recovery if the insight and patience is there to make use of these tools.

As a team, we’re also reaffirming our long-term commitment to reducing the influence of systematic racism and other forms of exclusion in policy decisions. It’s a choice for jurisdictions to stick with policies that deny opportunities to, and force violence and deprivation on, particular groups. As an institution, we want to better understand and live up to the opportunity to point out when and where that happens.

Our founding Executive Director David Alpert’s departure leaves us with the opportunity to find the right new leadership to work with the staff, board, and volunteers on charting the course during a different era, something we are actively working on in the meantime. We’re looking to recruit a talented and capable team member who can and strengthen our organizational management and fundraising strategy, so we can meet the challenges of the new era with good ideas that are set up to succeed.

That work requires us to reflect on what GGWash has been, is, and wants to be. GGWash is an institution with the power to inform and mobilize a multifaceted and powerful community around ideas that make our region work better for many more people than it does right now. We appreciate the broad network of people including David, from the early days to right now, who made and make that possible. Now it’s time to define the next leg of the journey.

You are part of this journey, through what you read, what you respond to, how you volunteer, what actions you sign on to, how you advocate in your own communities for change, and how you inspire us.

How is GGWash working during our transition period?

GGWash has been preparing for this transition for most of this year, and we expect the process to continue for a while longer. We’ve restructured our areas of responsibility as staff, to ensure that we can meet the challenge of operating in the new era. I’m really excited to see what our policy team does led by Alex Baca, who’s expanding on her work on housing and specifically DC’s Comprehensive Plan to incorporate transportation. She will work closely with Ron Thompson, newly-minted Policy Officer, and our Advocacy Committee on the issues we think can positively redefine our urban areas in the Washington region.

Our Managing Editor George Kevin Jordan, having led the publication through an unusual year for urbanist content, is taking on more business management for the blog and working with our new writer/editor Libby Solomon and our editorial board to keep bringing you stories and perspectives that matter on how we grow as a region.

On the operations side, Kate Jentoft-Herr expanded her role in community engagement and fundraising to work with me on financial management and keeping the show on the road more broadly (how does she do it, folks?). We’ve had terrific assists from our Program Assistant, Jesse B Rauch, who’s been helping us define our new roles and what to aim for.

In the meantime, like many who are fortunate enough to do so, we are working remotely to both protect the health of our valued staff and to slow the spread of coronavirus more broadly. We really, really miss working together in person. But our shared commitment to GGWash’s mission and community has strengthened our ties, in spite of distance.

We’ve grown through the challenge of learning to operate without our founding ED at the helm (who’s still been around to help here and there). It’s been a great opportunity to review our strengths and areas to build on, as well as a time to rise to the moment as a team. We appreciate you, our community, for making that possible by both supporting our work financially, a really critical part of how we do this work, and working with us as we figure out those next steps.

2020 was a year. 2021 will also be a year.

Few people and organizations will be untouched by the shocks of 2020, particularly one whose work is defined by the policy, social and economic landscapes. We hope to talk more in the new year more the challenges and opportunities emerging in 2021, as repercussions of COVID-19 extend further and deeper, but new opportunities to address the damage also emerge. At the end of the year, there’s a broad consensus that our region’s recovery will take a while, and involve not just the economy but health, education and society.

Those challenges need to be met with smart, informed, and caring policy and program design in the urbanist spheres. We at GGWash are excited to help move the needle on the issues that matter to you, from more - and more affordable - housing to mobility justice to public spaces that welcome all equally.

Thanks for being part of it. Wishing everyone a 2021 that starts getting better.