The Neal Peirce Foundation Launched To Sustain Journalist's & Civic Visionary's Legacy

As both a journalist and civic visionary for nearly 6 decades, Neal Peirce played a unique role as the chronicler of civic best practice in cities and regions --- as well as friend and civic mentor to many of us in the fields of city and regional planning and development.

Neal's nationally-syndicated columns in the Washington Post for some 35 years, and his related work in cities and regions, led the New York Times to compare him to Jane Jacobs and Lewis Mumford in their Sunday, December 27, 2019 tribute to Neal.

The Times observed, "Peirce carved out a new national beat covering the affairs of local governments and states. He paid close attention to fresh approaches that were succeeding in economic development, transit, housing, public education, recreation, pubic safety and government management." That's quite a multi-faceted array of disciplines.

To sustain this 6-decade legacy in civic best practices --- Neal Peirce's children, along with several of us who were fortunate enough to have Neal as a civic mentor over the years, have joined together to establish a new national philanthropic organization, The Neal Peirce Foundation.

Daughter Andre Peirce formally announced The Neal Peirce Foundation on July 26, 2021 with the following:

"When my Dad died in December 2019, two thoughts overwhelmed me.?

One was that he’d had a wild ride in life, a grand time. He shared this with me on the porch overlooking his beloved Newfound Lake one glorious August afternoon, the sun at his back. 'If I died now, it would be OK — look at all I’ve gotten to do! How lucky I’ve been!' He actually said that.?

The other thought was that he wasn’t done.?

He’d been in motion all his 87 years, out the door and on the road to give a speech or research a book or a column. I couldn’t imagine him still — stopped.?

Wouldn’t it be something if we could find a way to capture his energy and passion, so that the dialogue he sparked in his writings about cities, journalism, democracy, and more could continue??

So we started?The Neal Peirce Foundation .?

Our first initiative speaks to Neal’s deeply held conviction that the most important stories in American civic life are in our cities — and that the only way to tell them properly is to be on the ground, and interviewing local leaders, grassroots activists, and other urban changemakers.???

The plan is to award?grants to journalists to fund travel ?so that they can go out as Neal did and write the undertold stories of how to make cities and their metro regions work better for all their people.?

There are so many of these types of stories to tell — just as newspaper and other journalism travel budgets are slashed or eliminated altogether. Our hope is that these grants will help keep city-focused stories percolating in the media?and published widely. And continue furthering the goal Neal always said was behind his journalism: to 'cross-fertilize ideas' and 'to show the amazing new forces at work at the local level.'

We wanted you to be among the first to know that we’re here and primed for action — as Neal always was!?We’ve been recognized by the IRS as a 501-c3 nonprofit, and are preparing to launch our first round of travel grants (a handful this year, and exponentially more in the coming years).

Please join us in spreading the word by forwarding this email to colleagues and friends, sharing the website link [nealpeircefoundation.org ] on your social media platforms, and talking up Neal and our efforts at the picnic table, the beach, or wherever else you may happen to be this summer.?

And if you know of any journalists who might be looking for help covering travel expenses for a cities-focused story they’re eager to tell, let them know that the applications for our?Journalism Travel Grants ?will be going live later this month.

?Together, let’s take some steps that honor Neal! We’ll continue his legacy.

— Andrea Peirce

Copyright ? 2021, The Neal Peirce Foundation, All rights reserved.

Following Neal's passing in 2019, I penned the attached tribute to him and to his particular contributions to the advancement of cities and regions, including Denver and St. Louis, where our communities commissioned Peirce Reports in conjunction with the Denver Post and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

“As Both Journalist & Visionary, Neal Peirce Leaves Lasting Civic Impacts in Cities, Regions, Nation."| Dick Fleming | January 8, 2020

https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/both-journalist-visionary-neal-peirce-leaves-lasting-civic-fleming/

As Andrea notes in her July 26th post, anyone wishing to connect with the work of the recently-established Foundation, the mailing address is: The Peirce Foundation, 610 G Street, S.W., Washington, D.C., 20024, and the e-mail is nealpeircefoundation.org .

Help continue Neal Peirce's extraordinary legacy in advancing cities and regions.

--- Dick Fleming, CEO, Community Development Ventures, Inc., CIC@4220, CORTEX Innovation District, St. Louis, MO