Catalyst for Birmingham
Catalyst or Catalyst for Birmingham is a civic activist group created in 2003 to promote positive changes in Birmingham. The diverse group is made up mostly of young professionals united by an optimistic view of Birmingham's potential. Catalyst's e-mail list includes over 1,000 recipients. Catalyst has its offices at the Center for Planning and Design on 1st Avenue North.
According to its mission statement, Catalyst will "stimulate dialogue about civic issues that will benefit Birmingham and the surrounding region", and "identify new and existing ideas and solutions; and, motivate action."
The group's first executive director Cherie Fields, was hired as the group's first paid employee in March 2006 and tendered her resignation 12 months later in order to start a consulting firm. The group returned to volunteer leadership after her departure. The directorship was funded by grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.
"Key Pillars"
In June 2006, Catalyst announced its six "Key Pillars", each of which is being advanced by a dedicated committee:
- Sustainable City Development
- Arts and Culture
- Parks and Greenspaces
- Leadership Development
- Economic Development
- Political Awareness
Projects
- Catalytic Drive I & II are multimedia recruitments CDs created by Catalyst and produced with the help of the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau and Red Mountain Bank.
- Urban Reversi, conducted with TechBirmingham, is a large-scale outdoor urban game used to promote Birmingham's tech savvy and hipness. A $20,000 grant from Verizon Wireless helped bring the game to New York City as well as Birmingham.
References
- Ray, Tiffany (July 7, 2006) "'Hip' group to launch new Magic City recruitment CD." Birmingham Business Journal.
External links
- Catalyst for Birmingham website