2020-2021 Programs

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The State of Our Schools
CPS Superintendent Ken Salim

How  are our schools serving our kids? Above average and below average kids,  kids with IEPs, new immigrants, artists, nerds, athletes, the girls,  the boys, the kids of different colors, rich and poor kids, and those in voke tech? How are the CPS schools preparing our children for the future?  How has this spring’s online education worked? What have we learned  from it? How can we improve upon it?

Pop Up: A Debrief of the November 3rd  Election
Jim Roosevelt: a longtime Democratic Party Official; Polyxane Cobb: a longtime Cambridge Election Commissioner; Paul Walker: Senior Visiting Fellow, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy (IFSH), University of Hamburg, Germany

Continuing  with informal pop up Zoom meetings, Cambridge Club members Jim  Roosevelt, Polyxane Cobb and Paul Walker debriefed and deconstructed  the results of the November 3 election.

Parks, Playgrounds, Playing Fields & Urban Wilds: Getting the Open Spaces We Want
Robb Johnson, Executive Director, Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition; Melissa Peters, Director of Community Planning, City of Cambridge; Bob Simha, longtime MIT planner; and open space advocate Sara Mae Berman

As  Cambridge becomes more densely developed, it's critical to preserve  existing parkland and seize opportunities to create new public open  space. How can City resources and public/private partnerships be  leveraged to make progress? What kinds of new open space should be  prioritized, and in what parts of the City?  How can concerned residents  make a difference? This forum will provide an overview of tools for  creating and protecting public open space, new data from the City about  the distribution of open space in Cambridge through the lenses of equity  and climate change resilience, opportunities to provide input into the  City's pending Open Space and Recreation Plan, and ways that citizen  activism can make a difference.

Pop Up: Bright Spots

An opportunity to share the good news of your favorite local nonprofits, or in Cambridge generally.We won’t be breaking into breakout rooms, but instead, pass the virtual “talking stick.” Hear about how:

• at the Cambridge Community Foundation, donors have been more generous than ever before.
• the Patricia and Herbert Pratt Family Healing Garden at Mt. Auburn Hospital will open this spring 
• there are some glimmers of hope on the Cambridge open space front and
• so much more.  (We can’t wait to hear your news!)

Pop Up: What’s the Future of Harvard Square?
Suzanne Preston Blier, Harvard Square Association;  Jan Devereux, former Vice Mayor;  Patricia Nolan, Cambridge City Councillor  and Brad Bellows, Cambridge architect

Harvard  Square remains a key commercial, historical and cultural “heart” of our  city. Recently the Cambridge City Council Committee chaired by Patricia  Nolan voted to open more Harvard Square streets to pedestrian  engagement – a practice consistent with several European cities. This  pop-up meeting asked members to assess ideas for opening up some Harvard  Square streets to pedestrians and related engagements.

 Resources:
A study on pedestrianization - and how it might be relevant to Cambridge: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110016819300110
The  Champs-Élyséea project was mentioned as an example of an ambitious  effort to reimagine and revitalize a failing retail and civic space.  
https://www.pca-stream.com/en/projects/champs-elysees-study-48
[Scroll down to view a flyover video of the project.]  
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/10/paris-approves-plan-to-turn-champs-elysees-into-extraordinary-garden-anne-hidalgo
Some background on the Charles Sumner statue that stands opposite Johnston Gate.   https://photos.app.goo.gl/1LQKQaV4WKk7ukDQ9

The Health of Cambridge: A Tale of Two Cities 

Claude A. Jacob, DrPH(c), MPH, Chief Public Health Officer, City of Cambridge 

  
Cambridge attracts bright, creative  people from around the globe, but it is also home to residents with  fewer advantages—people of color, immigrants, individuals with  disabilities—who are at risk for serious illness and early death due to  social and environmental factors largely beyond their control. Mr.  Jacob, who oversees the nationally accredited Cambridge Public Health  Department,  spoke about the department’s policy and systems work to  address health inequities and build a healthier, more resilient  community. He also shared data and insights from the city’s new Community Health Assessment (click to download), as well as the department’s response to COVID-19.  

This lecture, honoring Cambridge Club member and extraordinary civic  contributor Frank Duehay, was introduced by CC member and former mayor Henrietta Davis. Deborah Klein Walker, CC member and past president of the American Public Health Association moderated the Q&A.

Pop Up: What’s Next for Public Libraries?  

Dr. Maria McCauley, Director of Libraries; Susan Flannery, Former Director of Libraries

A talk with Dr. McCauley and other members of the Cambridge Public Library staff about future directions for the library.

Finch Cambridge: Cambridge Tackles its Social Justice and Environmental Responsibilities. 

Michelle Apigian, Icon Architecture; Jane Carbone, Homeowner Rehab; and George Metzger, Architect, HMFH  

Finch Cambridge is the largest new construction affordable housing development in the City of Cambridge in 40 years. As a Passive House project it will also be one of the most operationally energy efficient buildings in Massachusetts. Finch, at Fresh Pond, opened in July 2020, this 98-unit project has many important lessons to teach not the least of which is that affordable housing can and should be a model of environmental resiliency and responsibility. 

Pop Up: Where Are They Now?

Featuring:       

Michael Scarlett (2014) – Legislative Aide to Cambridge City Councilor Patty Nolan 

Sheikh Nasher (2015) – Computer Programmer  

Emily Olick-Llano (2016) - Investment Analyst  

The Cambridge Club’s John and Ellen Moot Award for Public Service rewards civic engagement. We heard from past awardees, all outstanding youth, college graduates now, who remain civically engaged, perhaps, in part inspired by our celebration of their work. 

Max H. Bazerman, Ph. D., Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Dr. Bazerman presented a framework to be smarter and more efficient, honest and aware—to attain your “maximum sustainable goodness.” Harvard professor and recipient of the Aspen Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Max has formulated a deeply researched, prescriptive roadmap to approaching our own decision-making and ethics with the goal of  doing more good with our own limited time on the planet, and see greater satisfaction in the process.

Our Annual Meeting 

The Future of News 

Al Ortiz, Vice President, Standards and Practices, CBS News  

How can we expect the gathering and delivery of news to change in the future, and what effect will that have on our democracy?  News has always been shaped by the technologies available to gather and disseminate it, and by the habits and preferences of news consumers. Over the last 20-30 years the biggest change factors have been the ability to gather and transmit information and news video instantly and cheaply, together with the explosion of personal data now available to news organizations, government agencies, and advertisers. What can we, as news consumers, do to shape this future?