Equitable Development Goals
Our Vision
We envision a future where every community has the power to shape its streets and infrastructure, reclaiming them as shared spaces of connection, opportunity, and justice. A future where harmful highways are removed, neighborhoods are reconnected, and infrastructure decisions repair historic harms rather than repeat them.
Our Streets is scaling our work to become a national leader in community-driven development, setting a new standard for how infrastructure can drive racial, economic, and climate justice. To guide this transformation, we have developed a bold framework of Equitable Development Goals — a roadmap for building just, healthy, and connected communities.
A Unique Role for Funders and Donors
Co-Creators, Not Just Supporters
What sets our movement apart is how it invites funders and donors to engage meaningfully — not just financially. Through the National Equitable Communities Convening, you can join organizers, policymakers, artists, and researchers in to co-create the coalition’s direction, witness community successes, and help guide the next chapter.
We accomplish this through:
- Offering real-time updates on campaign progress
- Collaborating with national partners and bringing new funders and donors into the fold
- Supporting replication of the Minnesota model in other states
- Showing the impact of your investment through stories, data, and community voice
For funders who truly want transformation, investing in these enabling conditions is not a risk. I repeat, it is not a risk — it is a sure bet.
Center for Effective Philanthropy, Insights From a Frontline Funder
Our ask is simple, ambitious, and urgent.
By investing $100 million upfront, we will catalyze a scalable, replicable model for infrastructure justice — beginning in Minnesota and growing into a national movement. This vision plan ensures that transportation and land use investments finally serve as tools for equity, resilience, and community empowerment.
Scaling a National Movement
An Invitation to Fund and Shape Transformative Change
Our Streets is building a national movement that doesn’t just fix infrastructure — it transforms systems and redistributes power. At the heart of our vision is the National Equitable Communities Network, a scalable, grassroots-centered initiative that reimagines how transportation, land use, and development can deliver health, equity, and justice for every community.
By investing in bold, people-first infrastructure projects, we will:
- Revitalize and reconnect communities divided by unjust transportation infrastructure.
- Lead the nation in demonstrating how infrastructure can be a tool for advancing justice, equity, and climate resilience.
- Inspire and equip cities nationwide to adopt innovative, community-driven development models.
Building on our work leading the Minnesota Communities Over Highways Coalition, we are creating a replicable model through the Equitable Community Development Academy —one that bridges grassroots organizing, policy change, research, arts, and community development. We are not just piloting one-off projects. We are building capacity, restoring neighborhoods, and shaping public infrastructure from the ground up — informed by lived experience, rooted in community vision, and sustained by long-term investment.
To make this possible, we are establishing a flexible general operating fund with Thrivent Charitable, ensuring financial stability and accountability to the communities we serve. This structure allows us to fund deeply local work and scale nationally through a multi-decade strategy — starting with Minnesota and expanding to 5-20 states over the next 20 years.
A Blueprint for Building a Just Future
Why Our Approach is Necessary
We believe real change begins at the ground level, with the communities most impacted by unjust transportation decisions, housing displacement, climate harm, and exclusion from planning processes. Our coalition model offers a practical, powerful alternative: one that places shared goals and systemic coordination at the heart of infrastructure transformation.
Turning Vision into Action
We’ve outlined the vision. We’ve explained why this work — and this approach — is necessary. Now, here is how we drive change. Our Equitable Development Goals provide a clear, actionable roadmap for building just, connected, and thriving communities. They are rooted in lived experience, informed by years of organizing and coalition work, and designed to guide transformation across infrastructure, environment, economy, health, and democracy.
These 12 goals address the layered harms caused by unjust transportation infrastructure — and the interconnected systems that must evolve to repair them. From transit to zoning, climate justice to healthcare, arts to grassroots power-building, each goal reflects a critical dimension of community life. Together, these goals form the foundation of a phased, scalable strategy.
Equitable Development Goals
BUILT ENVIRONMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE
COMMUNITY-RESPONSIVE FREIGHT
Developing freight and delivery systems that prioritize community well-being and environmental health
Freight and delivery systems are essential to daily life, but when poorly planned, they create traffic, noise, and pollution that disproportionately impact low-income neighborhoods. This goal ensures freight infrastructure works for communities, not against them. We partner with residents, city planners, and logistics companies to rethink freight systems in ways that reduce harm and improve quality of life.
BUILT ENVIRONMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE
TRANSFORMING TRANSPORTATION
Ensuring accessible, sustainable, and people-first transportation options
Transportation is a cornerstone of opportunity — yet too many communities still lack safe, reliable options to move through their cities. This goal focuses on advancing multi-modal systems that prioritize walking, biking, rolling, and public transit, especially in low-income and historically underserved neighborhoods. We work with residents, policymakers, and planners to make sustainable mobility a reality — connecting infrastructure investments to community priorities.
BUILT ENVIRONMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE
HOUSING, LAND USE & ZONING
Advocating for policies that prioritize community needs, equitable development, and anti-displacement protections
Zoning and land use policies have historically contributed to segregation and displacement, often sidelining the voices of marginalized communities. Our goal is to reform these systems to ensure that development benefits existing residents and prevents involuntary displacement. We collaborate with communities to co-create policies that reflect their needs and aspirations, ensuring that growth leads to inclusive and sustainable neighborhoods.
ENVIRONMENT & PUBLIC HEALTH
CLIMATE JUSTICE
Advocating for transportation infrastructure that supports climate resilience, environmental justice, and public health
Transportation is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, and frontline communities bear the brunt of its health and environmental impacts. This goal centers climate justice in infrastructure planning by reducing emissions, expanding green space, and restoring neighborhoods harmed by car-dominated systems. We work alongside environmental partners and community members to reimagine infrastructure that protects both people and the planet.
ENVIRONMENT & PUBLIC HEALTH
HEALTHCARE ACCESS & IMPROVED HEALTH OUTCOMES
Expanding access to care and improving community health through transportation, food, and policy solutions
Access to healthcare and nutrition is shaped by more than medical facilities — it’s deeply tied to how people move through their neighborhoods, what they breathe, and where they live. This goal focuses on removing the systemic barriers that keep underserved communities from achieving better health. We work at the intersection of health equity, infrastructure, and food systems to improve health outcomes through place-based change.
ECONOMIC & CULTURAL VITALITY
ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION
Creating generational wealth through local development, entrepreneurship, and employment pathways
Many communities impacted by unjust infrastructure also face chronic economic exclusion. This goal is about reversing that pattern by creating conditions for long-term, community-rooted economic growth. We focus on building generational wealth through targeted support for small businesses, workforce development, and economic systems that serve — rather than extract from — local communities.
ECONOMIC & CULTURAL VITALITY
ACCESSIBLE ARTS & CULTURE EXPERIENCES
Creating cultural spaces and experiences that foster connection, civic engagement, and community identity
Art is more than self-expression—it’s a powerful tool for connection, healing, and civic participation. This goal ensures that arts, culture, and creative placemaking are central to how communities reconnect and reimagine their neighborhoods. We center local artists, cultural organizations, and tradition bearers to help communities divided by highways and disinvestment reclaim their spaces through creativity.
ECONOMIC & CULTURAL VITALITY
UPLIFTING PUBLIC HISTORY
Unearthing erased histories to strengthen community power and drive accountability for policymakers
Too often, the histories of displaced, marginalized, and resilient communities have been erased from public memory — especially when it comes to the harms caused by infrastructure and planning decisions. This goal centers public history as a tool for truth-telling, healing, and systems change. We work with community historians, artists, and residents to document lived experiences and ensure that public narratives reflect the realities of those most impacted.
POWER, VOICE & GOVERNANCE
GRASSROOTS ORGANIZING & EMPOWERMENT
Building community through leadership development and organizing
For systemic change to be lasting, it must be led by the people most impacted by injustice. This goal focuses on equipping community members with the tools, knowledge, and support needed to drive decision-making, from local planning meetings
to state policy initiatives. We invest in leadership development, grassroots organizing, and education initiatives that shift power back into community hands.
POWER, VOICE & GOVERNANCE
INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH & PUBLIC POLICY
Driving equitable infrastructure change through research, advocacy, and evidence-based policymaking
Systemic change demands more than good intentions — it requires solid data, bold ideas, and policy pathways rooted in community realities. This goal focuses on producing actionable research and legislative recommendations that center equity in transportation and infrastructure investments. We combine community insight with rigorous research to shift how decisions are made — from local zoning policies to federal infrastructure funding.
POWER, VOICE & GOVERNANCE
COMMUNITY DECISION MAKING &
DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATIONEmbedding lived experience into planning and infrastructure decisions
Too often, decisions about transportation and development are made without real input from the people who live with their consequences. This goal ensures that community voices are not just heard but actively shape policies, plans, and investments. We equip communities with the tools and platforms needed to gather, visualize, and present their priorities — driving evidence-based, people-centered change.
Time-bound Vision Plan for Scaling Impact
This initial $100 million fuels the infrastructure we need to scale, including:
- Building national operations rooted in community leadership
- Establishing a replicable coalition model based on our success in Minnesota
- Launching a multi-state Communities Over Highways initiative to support local campaigns and policy change
By contributing to this shared goal, your investment becomes part of a much larger collective impact. Every dollar brings us closer to national systems change, led by the communities most harmed by past infrastructure decisions.
To ensure long-term success, we are partnering with Thrivent Charitable to manage a mission-aligned, flexible operating fund. Our broader $200M–$250M vision will sustain this work for decades to come, and it starts with supporters like you investing in this moment.
Phasing Momentum to Build Power
From local roots to national impact, our phased approach accelerates a movement, shifting who holds power in infrastructure decisions and ensuring our cities are shaped by communities.
The Bottom Line
By investing $100 million upfront, we will catalyze a scalable, replicable model for infrastructure justice — beginning in Minnesota and growing into a national movement. This vision plan ensures that transportation and land use investments finally serve as tools for equity, resilience, and community empowerment.
