PRINCETON NJ Announcement

Community-Members and Experts Come Together to Tackle Issues of Justice in a Free Forum June 5 - 8

Trenton, N.J. – The Johnson Center for Learning & Impact is hosting the third annual Isles Forum. The 2023 Forum, "Justice: The Heart of Community Development," runs from June 5-8, 2023 with virtual sessions Monday – Wednesday and an in-person Youth Peace Summit at The College of New Jersey on Thursday, June 8.

Isles, Inc., a community development and environmental nonprofit headquartered in Mercer County, NJ, created a virtual forum in 2021 to create an intentional sharing of practices amongst those doing grassroots community work, like minded organizations, policy makers and researchers.  The intention is to share what is working in communities and what barriers are arising in order to transform how we engage with each other. This includes grassroots initiatives and the systems and policies that drive larger, more wide-spread change in historically oppressed communities. The 2023 Forum is a space where thought-leaders and practitioners can come together online and in-person to share challenges and emerging ideas and discuss ways that we can work together to drive more wide-spread impact in the communities we serve.

This free, one-of-a-kind event includes a series of webinars, panels, and discussions focused on Justice in the context of urban community development with each day devoted to a different aspect of justice: environmental justice, social justice, and economic justice. This year, seminar topics include:

• Heat, Trees, and the Impact on Urban Centers
• Alternative Strategies for Safe Communities
• Moving Beyond Community Gardens: The Role of Food and Entrepreneurship
• Workforce Development
• Current state of Rent and Evictions
• Effects of NJ Marijuana Legalization
• Environmental Design & Neighborhood Safety

"Since its launch in 1981, Isles has been committed to learning and sharing as an avenue to build self-reliant families and communities.  The forum is critical to this process," Managing Director of the Johnson Center, Laura Fenster Rothschild says. "What excites me the most about the Isles Forum is the intentional approach to create opportunities to share expertise held by different cohorts. The Forum creates a bridge where grassroots organizers, CBO's, Government officials, and researchers share and learn together. In our model, each person is an expert with a great deal to contribute to making progress in community development. This year, each perspective is critical to addressing historic injustices in our communities."

Last year, several hundred attendees from around the state and across the country joined in the various seminars and discussions. Our Forum sponsors contribute to ensure that we can keep the event free to anyone who'd like to participate. This year's media sponsor is WHYY radio who join our daily sponsors M&T Bank, PSE&G, and NJM Insurance as well as session sponsors Capital Health and The Bank of Princeton. To view the complete Forum schedule, including descriptions of each session, session timing, and presenters, and to register to attend, visit www.isles.org/forum. The website is updated regularly with additional information.

About Isles: Founded in 1981, Isles, Inc. is a community development and environmental organization designed to foster self-reliant families and healthy, sustainable communities. Isles revitalizes communities, builds wealth, educates and trains, and creates healthy homes and spaces. Beyond its central New Jersey base, Isles works to influence policy and helps others build healthy, self-help approaches.

Through an array of self-help services, Isles has empowered more than 1,300 students to receive educational opportunities and job training, over 600 families to purchase homes and receive coaching for financial sustainability, and hundreds of gardeners to participate in urban agriculture across in the city. In addition, over 500 homes were built or renovated through community revitalization, an additional 3,000 homes have been tested for lead, and more than 450 have been rehabbed to be lead-safe and energy efficient. This work in Trenton to convert dangerous, inefficient older homes into high-performing safe places for families, is expanding to other parts of New Jersey.

For more information on Isles or to learn how you can get involved, visit www.isles.org