BONUS: Bree Jones on Development Without Displacement

Unpack equitable preservation-based development with Deqah (host) and Bree Jones (guest), the Founder and CEO of Parity , an equitable development company headquartered in West Baltimore that acquires and rehabilitates abandoned properties by the block to create affordable home ownership opportunities. Bree started Parity in 2020 as a response to the gentrification and displacement she experienced in her hometown in NYC.

Here, Deqah and Bree discuss the various levels of economic disinvestment that create hyper-vacancy and decay. Instead of pushing people out of their legacy lands and neighborhoods, Bree and the folks at Parity have envisioned a new way to develop, one that disengages from traditional, top-down forms of planning to combat gentrification and other historical place-based inequities such as America’s legacy of urban renewal.

Through this new approach, Bree has successfully generated over $60 million of investment in Black communities. Bree Jones is the CEO & Founder of Parity, a culturalist and nationally recognized systems change leader focused on revaluing Black neighborhoods and engendering Black wealth.

If you haven’t already, we recommend you watch her TED Talk, How to Revitalize a Neighborhood – Without Gentrification , that explicates this innovative vision. This episode is sponsored by Loyola University Maryland’s Sellinger School of Business and Management .

Loyola University Maryland is a Baltimore-based institution that believes in the power of community builders. Credits: Your host is Deqah Hussein-Wetzel .

This episode was edited by Deqah, Connor Lynch , Skyler Ficklin, and Vanessa Quirk. Mixing by Connor Lynch.

Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Urban Roots⁠ is a project by ⁠Urbanist Media⁠ , a non-profit dedicated to preserving place through story.

Please consider supporting our work by donating to us via ⁠Venmo⁠ or ⁠Paypal⁠ . Subscribe to our YouTube (and Patreon for exclusive content)!

Want to sponsor a bonus episode? Email us at: urbanrootspodcast@ Follow us on Instagram at ⁠urbanrootsculture⁠