2022 Impact Report

Since our founding in 1894, Van Alen Institute has taken a few evolutionary leaps, always rooted in the core belief that shared spaces are essential to democracy. Here’s what that looks like in action today:

We never start a project without a community partner. Communities are the experts in their own needs and vision. We place our trust in the expertise of local leaders who have guided their neighborhoods for decades, and humbly work to gain their trust in return.

We don’t show up with preconceptions. We’ll never ask our partners to respond to a design or plan that didn’t originate with them. Our design projects start and end with listening.

We invest our own funds to initiate work we believe in. We share funds raised with our community partners, no questions asked, so they can build capacity or implement ideas we’ve co-created. In 2022, we re-granted $689,000.

We’re not all the way there yet. Our co-creation method, which you’ll learn about in the report embedded below, is a work in progress. There’s still much to do to achieve justice in city-making, so we approach our work with humility and an open mind. We know we still have much to learn.

At nearly 130 years old, we find ourselves at the beginning of a movement. It’s an exhilarating moment, and we’re glad you’re with us.

Deborah Marton
Executive Director, Van Alen Institute