Shamichael Hallman |  Reimagining The Civic Commons

I'm passionate about connecting people and combating social isolation. I am currently working on the Reimagining the Civic Commons Project; a three-year, national initiative with projects in five U.S. cities that seek to revitalize and connect civic assets. A collaboration of national foundations and a network of local partners, the initiative is working toward four main goals: civic engagement, socioeconomic mixing, environmental sustainability and value creation. In Memphis, the project is focused on a four-block area downtown known as The Fourth Bluff, which includes Cossitt Library, Mississippi River Park, and Memphis Park. The aim of the project is to build a sense of community that brings people of all backgrounds back into public life as stewards and advocates shaping their city’s future.

Prior to this, much of my work was focused on the intersection of faith and technology. In 2013, I became a co-organizer for a faith-based hackathon called Code for the Kingdom. As a part of this movement I helped organize the largest faith-inspired hackathon which occurred in 15 cities across the globe. This work enabled him to travel to Nairobi, Kenya to work with a group of Christian technologists to help combat corruption in 2015. Last year I wrote a book entitled Hacked: How a Christian Hackathon is Shifting Traditional Engagement Models and Creating an Ecosystem for Life-Transforming