“This world is but a canvas to our imagination,” Henry David Thoreau wrote, and Public Space Challenge winners have taken him at his word. Where you see an outdoor fountain, they create a roller skating rink. Where you see a busy thoroughfare, they build a...
You don’t have to work as an urban planner to know about designing parks and public spaces. The best ideas often come from the residents who use these community spaces every day. They are community organizers, students and artists like Ileana Collazo, who wanted to...
Dr. Fredric Brandt was a pioneering dermatologist who battled depression later in life. After his tragic death, Dr. Brandt’s colleagues established the Dr. Brandt Foundation with us to raise awareness for suicide prevention and mental health. The foundation recently announced the first Fredric Brandt, M.D....
As I was biking home from work last week along The Underline, one of Greater Miami’s game-changing public space projects, cars stopped at a crosswalk to let me and some people walking cross a busy street in Brickell. Cars slowed to patiently wait, but one...
Editor's note: This op-ed by Foundation President and CEO Javier Alberto Soto originally ran in the Miami Herald on Feb. 2, announcing the Foundation's 50th anniversary year. On Jan. 26, 1967, a group of forward-thinking Greater Miami residents connected people, ideas and philanthropic resources to improve...
Miami has been built by people who are filled with courage and a sense of optimism. Most of us came here from somewhere else. Some from other parts of the country; others who emigrated here from other parts of the world. And I submit to...
After graduating from the University of Miami with a degree in business, Lila Dickerson launched a career in real estate investment while also cultivating a deep respect for the environment around her. Long before topics like sea-level rise were on Greater Miami’s radar, Lila believed...
Felecia Hatcher was leading a successful career spearheading marketing and social media around the country for tech companies like Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony, when she was laid off. The layoff led to her starting a successful altruistic business as an entrepreneur. In 2008 Felecia launched...
The Our Miami Report is a biennial civic indicators report that provides a community snapshot of eight quality of life issues shaping life in Greater Miami. We approached local leaders working on these issues to provide additional context to the data, trends and stories behind...
Natalie Castellanos is in the current class of Miami Fellows, the Foundation’s 14-month signature leadership program. The program focuses on helping Fellows develop a deeper understanding of effective leadership while learning about civic issues and ways to solve them in Greater Miami. Natalie shared a...