Understanding Neighborhood Economies from the Ground Up

1:00 PM – 1:30 PM

Fireside Chat with Comptroller Brooke Lierman

The State of the Economy—From the Ground Up

A grounding conversation to start the day, translating economic signals and data into what they actually mean for households, small businesses, and neighborhoods right now, and setting the stage for the conversations ahead.

2:45 PM – 3:30 PM

Who Owns the Block?

A focused conversation on ownership, control, and decision-making at the neighborhood level. This discussion explores who holds power in shaping local places, how ownership impacts community outcomes, and what it means to build pathways that keep value rooted in neighborhoods.

Additional details and speakers will be announced soon.

The Hidden Economy: Power, Precarity, and Possibility

This session explores the parts of the economy that are often overlooked, undercounted, or misunderstood, but are essential to how neighborhoods actually function.

Across many communities, particularly in historically Black neighborhoods, economic activity extends beyond traditional business definitions. It includes solo entrepreneurs, creatives, service providers, and informal or semi-formal enterprises that may not have storefronts, employees, or formal structures, but still generate income, meet community needs, and sustain livelihoods.

From barbers and stylists to childcare providers, makers, and independent service workers, these individuals represent a significant share of neighborhood economic life, yet are often excluded from formal support systems, financing opportunities, and policy conversations.

How the Session Works

The session begins by grounding participants in the scale and realities of informal and solo entrepreneurship, including who participates, why they participate, and the barriers to formalization and traditional systems.

A facilitated conversation will bring together organizations working directly with solo entrepreneurs and creatives, leaders supporting returning citizens and alternative pathways to income, corridor and place-based leaders observing this activity in real time, and policy or systems leaders navigating how to engage with this segment of the economy.

Participants will then engage in structured dialogue to reflect on where they see the hidden economy in their own work or communities, identify gaps in support, recognition, and access, and explore ways to better align systems, resources, and policies with how people actually earn and build income.

Session Focus

This session is not about defining the hidden economy. It is about reframing how we understand and engage with it. Participants will consider what counts as economic activity, who gets recognized, how systems can better reflect lived reality, and what it takes to support pathways that are flexible, accessible, and sustainable.

Speakers & Facilitators

Dr. Tammira Lucas
Founder of The Cube Cowork | Assistant Professor & Director of The Center for Strategic Entrepreneurship

Ashiah Parker, MPA

Will Holman
CEO, Open Works

Donte Hayes
Founder & CEO, Another Man’s Trash

The Debt Trap: How Capital Drains Our Communities

This session explores the often-overlooked reality that access to capital is not always a pathway to growth. It can also be a source of strain that quietly drains wealth from individuals, small businesses, and entire neighborhoods.

Across many communities, particularly historically Black neighborhoods, entrepreneurs and residents are navigating a landscape shaped by high-cost debt, limited financing options, and financial products that are not designed with long-term sustainability in mind.

From credit cards and personal debt to merchant cash advances and small business loans, the cost of capital can significantly influence whether businesses stabilize, grow, or struggle to survive.

How the Session Works

The session begins with an overview of key trends, including the rising cost of debt for small businesses and households, patterns in how capital is accessed across communities, and the relationship between financial stress and business outcomes.

A facilitated conversation will feature voices from across the ecosystem, including small business advisors, policy and regulatory leaders, practitioners supporting individuals and businesses impacted by debt, and capital providers exploring alternative approaches.

Participants will engage in structured dialogue to reflect on how debt and capital are shaping their own work or communities, identify key barriers and patterns, and explore what more equitable and effective capital systems could look like.

Session Focus

This session is not only about identifying problems. It is about creating space to better understand how capital functions in real-world contexts, examine the unintended consequences of current financial systems, and surface ideas that could lead to more supportive, sustainable pathways.

Speakers & Facilitators

Karida Collins
CEO, Neighborhood Fiber Co.

Jennifer Smith
Regional Director for Baltimore City and Baltimore County, Maryland Small Business Development Center

David Arriola
Director of Lending and Chief Credit Officer, National Community Reinvestment Coalition

Public Safety & Neighborhood Economies

Baltimore has made meaningful progress in public safety, yet perception and lived experience do not always align with the data. This session explores how those gaps shape economic activity, investment, and neighborhood outcomes.

How the Session Works

The session begins with insights from the Baltimore Area Survey, focusing on a three-year trend of perceptions of public safety. This grounding will highlight the perception versus reality gap, differences in experience across gender and place-based narratives, and the influence of storytelling on perception, investment, and engagement.

A cross-sector conversation will follow with leaders from philanthropy, Live Baltimore, local media, and the City of Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. Each will share how they are seeing this moment unfold through their respective lenses and how public safety progress is being experienced, communicated, and translated into neighborhood and economic outcomes.

Participants will then move into breakout discussions focused on storytelling and messaging, neighborhoods and residents, and small businesses. Each breakout will blend data, lived experience, and practical insight, with facilitators guiding conversation toward reflection and forward-looking ideas.

Session Focus

This session is designed to help participants better understand the gap between perception and reality, and how narrative, experience, and economic behavior intersect in shaping neighborhood outcomes.

Speakers & Facilitators

The Silver Tsunami: Who Will Own Our Neighborhood Businesses?

A growing number of small business owners, particularly in historically Black communities, are approaching retirement without clear succession or transition plans.

At a neighborhood level, this is not just a business issue. When transitions are unplanned, businesses close, commercial corridors weaken, and important community assets are lost. At the same time, a rising generation of entrepreneurs is interested in ownership but faces barriers to starting from scratch or accessing existing businesses.

How the Session Works

The session begins with a brief overview of regional and national trends, including aging business ownership demographics, rates of business closure versus transition, and the implications for jobs, local economies, and wealth retention.

A facilitated discussion will bring together perspectives from capital providers, business owners approaching exit or transition, advisors working on ownership transition, valuation, and readiness, and neighborhood or place-based leaders who experience the downstream impact when businesses close or transition unsuccessfully.

Participants will engage in structured discussion to identify barriers to successful transitions, explore practical pathways and support structures, and consider what a more intentional ecosystem for business succession could look like.

Session Focus

This session explores how we move from unplanned exits to intentional transitions and what it takes, structurally and practically, to support that shift. It also brings clarity to preparedness, valuation, financing, and the real-world challenges of ownership transfer.

Speakers & Facilitators