With many US cities falling into disrepair following the pandemic, business downturns, and brain drains, the term ‘Hometown Proud’ has become almost non-existent. Young talent looks elsewhere for opportunities to make their mark leaving once vibrant towns uncared for. What will it take to empower inhabitants to restore our beautiful cities and rekindle once thriving communities? To merge architecture, positive psychology, and what it means to create a better and just life for all, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two women who invest their home and work life into their communities. Majora Carter is a real estate developer, urban revitalization strategist, and author who strives to inject joy back into the South Bronx and other established communities like it. She shares key concepts from her book, Reclaiming Your Community: You Don’t Have to Move Out of Your Neighborhood to Live in a Better One, and her strategies for getting residents to reinvest in their communities. Molly Rose Kauffman is the co-founder of the University of Orange, a free people’s university centered in Orange, New Jersey. She describes the major strides the university is taking to reignite people’s passion for enlivening public spaces and further enriching the existing culture. 

About Lisa’s guests:

Majora Carter is a real estate developer, urban revitalization strategy consultant, MacArthur Fellow, and Peabody Award-winning broadcaster. She is responsible for the creation of numerous economic developments, technology inclusion, green infrastructure projects, policies, and job training and placement systems. She currently serves as Senior Program Director for Community Regeneration at Groundswell, Inc. Carter applies her corporate consulting practice focused on talent retention to reducing the Brain Drain in American low-status communities. She has firsthand experience pioneering sustainable economic development in one of America's most storied low-status communities: the South Bronx.

Molly Rose Kaufman is director of the University of Orange, a free people's university dedicated to education for equitable cities. She co-founded the organization in 2008 alongside her mother and grandmother.

This episode of Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio is sponsored by: 

Better Help Online Therapy — Need help developing your problem-solving skills? Consider giving therapy a try. Find a professional licensed therapist in 48 hours on their secure worldwide platform at Better Health Online Therapy. There is no driving, no parking, no waiting, and no hassle. Harvesting Happiness listeners get 10% off their first month of online therapy at BetterHelp.com/HarvestingHappiness. 

Worthy — Got precious jewelry laying around you no longer wear? Turn your diamond jewelry into cash, fast and risk free.  Worthy’s experts will do al the work in as little as two weeks. Harvesting Happiness listeners get an extra hundred dollars when your jewelry sells for over $1,500.00 at Worthy.com/hh.