Written by Josh Stuyvesant

The members of the Culture of Entrepreneurship and Inclusion table agreed, whether or not Albuquerque ended up being invited into the second phase of the Living Cities Integration Initiative, their members would continue their conversations. Though officially disbanded, “[the table] was an honest representation of the community and its perspectives. It was an interesting place to have these conversations about how Albuquerque can move forward in a positive way … We didn’t just walk in agreeing with each other; we had diversely informed perspectives,” said Shelle Sanchez, an arts consultant and a COE table mainstay excited to keep the conversation going. The continued conversations among former members of the Culture of Entrepreneurship and Inclusion table is exciting in a few ways: 1) It recognizes that while Living Cities is a benevolent fire starter for the future success of Albuquerque, there is still much work to be done on the ground, and outside of the Living Cities adopted framework. Living Cities’ aim is to enrich the soil in cities across America, but there must be well-tempered gardeners to till it. 2) While all the ideas and strategies recommended by COE for the final report may not have made the final proposal, they are well worth exploring under a sustainable bandwidth, and can find support under this newly unfettered group of wonderers and planners. 3) As Shelle herself put it: “The kinds of conversations that came out of our meetings were real and authentic all the way through. We were a mix of entrepreneurs and people in the arts, technology and education sectors.” Their conversations about utilizing Albuquerque’s resources to sustain growth were innovative, well informed and adept because they themselves embody many of the cultural and entrepreneurial resources we have in our city. Albuquerque has acknowledged that in employing our existing resources, we can attain our shared vision to help our city reach its full potential as a place to live, work and prosper. That concept of growing our own is the standout point in the conversation I had with Ms. Sanchez. Rather than revel in the success of entering into another year as an implementation city through Living Cities, she and her table see the bigger picture: Albuquerque must continue the conversation to really make progress. She went on to say, “We spent a lot of time solving the problem and no time figuring out how to invite people to take advantage of it.” So, ask yourself: What are Albuquerque’s resources, and how can we include them at the heart of Albuquerque’s future? Ask that question, and then gather some of Albuquerque’s invaluable human diversity to answer it.