We pride ourselves in bringing technical solutions to human problems

When Kat Guillaume-Delemar was six years old she was already an engaged community member. When a fire took the house next to her apartment building, she wondered about the elderly woman who had lived there and whether a new home would replace hers. As often happens in disinvested neighborhoods, that space became a vacant lot that remained the same for decades. Kat now leads the Center for Community Progress, a national nonprofit that brings technical solutions to human problems and failed systems, specifically bringing community-defined purpose to vacant, abandoned and/or deteriorated structures across the United States. As Kat explains on this episode of Power Station, Community Progress partners with municipalities and community leaders who have experienced the trauma associated with deteriorated and dangerous conditions and have a vision that will serve and strengthen their neighborhoods. These successes are not often highlighted in the media, but they are happening, nonetheless. The wins include the passing of progressive housing policies, the creation of affordable rental units, increased homeownership, centers for the arts and a beautiful park where an elderly woman's home once stood. Kat brings heart, expertise and tenacity to making a more equitable America. Hear her.