How To Become A Member

The New Orleans Institute is dedicated to elevating and connecting New Orleans’ emergent citizen leaders. Membership is free and open to individuals and organizations that have risen to claim their neighborhoods and their city. Because the New Orleans Institute is still evolving, becoming a member now gives you the opportunity participate in shaping what We, together, will become. Email Us.

About The Institute

Since the 2005 levee failures New Orleanians have been challenged to evacuate, resettle, reevaluate and rebuild. New networks have formed and a new generation of private sector, not-for-profit, and community leaders has emerged.

Their stories are compelling: to bring back neighbors, to restore and adapt to the environment, to reimagine urban schools, to rebuild a local tax base, to restore and grow neighborhood economies, to protect historical housing stock, to provide access to adequate health care, to restructure out racist and outdated systems, to encourage neighborhood-friendly development, to nurture precious cultural traditions, and to create a social safety net for those still struggling.

The new New Orleans is a laboratory for innovation. Nowhere else in the country have the very building blocks of urban life been distilled to reveal how they contribute to a living, breathing community. We know we are the canary in the coal mine. Cities around the world increasingly face the challenges we face: climate change, economic recession, immigration, brain drain, aging population, racism, failing infrastructure, and the growing disparity between rich and poor.

The New Orleans Institute is an emerging network focused on:

• Archiving and interpreting knowledge developed by on-the-ground social innovators;

• Providing individuals and organizations with tools and opportunities to network and share; and

• Share widely and creatively the lessons of New Orleanians with other urban communities.