The Ferguson 2040 plan is a comprehensive municipal plan developed for the city of Ferguson, Missouri. The goals of the project were to craft a 20-year vision for the city, while ensuring that resident involvement would create ownership in the plan for not just city officials, but for neighbors, nonprofits, small business owners, and everyone else who makes Ferguson special. The plan was adopted by the Ferguson Planning Commission in 2020. 

John’s Role

John’s employer, Rise Community Development, was a partner organization on this effort, with St. Louis based firm Development Strategies as the planning lead. 

This limited John’s role to three key areas on the project: 

1. Community Engagement – John was part of the team who was working  to conduct large public meetings and discuss various policy topic areas with residents one-on-one in these settings, including recorded vocal interviews with residents and assistance with collecting resident surveys. He also attended a variety of neighborhood meetings and public events to take the conversation to those who were unable to attend. 
2. A racial equity lens application – Racial equity lens requires dedicated attention. John helped ensure that the racial equity lens was properly applied to the plan through engagement efforts and the policy recommendations that went into the final plan. 
3. Online presence and communications- John was responsible for maintaining the plan’s social media presence, developing and maintaining the plan website, as well as email communications with the public. 

Additional Resources

• Download the plan here.
• Visit OurFerguson.com.