Sojourner Consulting

Sojourner Consulting is a mission-driven planning and strategic consultancy.

Sojourner Consulting

We are known for our expertise in equitable development planning and major project impacts, needs assessments for immigrant, refugee and English learner populations, and strategic consulting. Every project is different, because every community is unique.

Planning for Equitable Development and Major Projects

Projects:

Communities experiencing gentrification or major projects face unique and complex challenges. They often struggle with rising housing costs, maintaining access to jobs, and changing customer base. At the same time, new residents may have different goals and interests. We help communities figure out what's important to them, identify ways to reach their goals, and design processes for different groups to listen to each other and work together.In this area of work, we often:

  • Identify policies and planning strategies which are appropriate for the local context, and ensure existing residents influence decisions and benefit from changes,

  • Community engagement - Talk to different community members and understand their experiences and perspectives, with a focus on those who are most impacted,

  • Tell the story of the neighborhood's history, culture, and people networks,

  • Convene conversations among groups with many interests, including developers, policymakers, and philanthropy.

We help clients conduct needs assessments to understand how they can improve their programs and policies. We are known for our work with immigrants, refugees and English learners, and other hard to reach populations.Our work includes:

  • Creating community scans which help the public sector and civic ecosystem better understand the needs, strengths, and priorities of their stakeholders,

  • Assessing and making recommendations for more inclusive programs and services,

  • Increasing client understanding of how to engage and build relationships with stakeholder groups.

Strategic Consulting

Clients
Latino Equitable Development Collective
Mortgage Bankers Association

We provide strategic support for clients at critical junctures of their work, whether it's launching an initiative or evaluating a pilot project.

Sojourner Consulting

Place-Based. We are planners who love all the soft sides of places. We're interested in how people communicate, the role of informal groups, and local history and culture. We often bring our policy and cultural expertise to teams with technical expertise in design, engineering, and economic analysis.Human-Centered. We try to understand how people bring their experiences and perspectives to bear on various systems. We use qualitative tools and participatory approaches to get rich, nuanced information. We spend a lot of time walking around neighborhoods and sitting in the back of church basements.Culturally Competent. We thrive in multicultural, multilingual environments. We often work with immigrants, refugees and English Language Learners.

Sojourner Consulting

Our Founder & Principal, Sarah Yeung, has 15 years of experience as a community developer, planner and policy advocate.Sarah has provided expertise and thought leadership in planning and development impacts for Philadelphia Chinatown and other communities. As the former director of planning in Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, she played a key role in the organization's growth from a grassroots non-profit to a regional powerhouse.Other past experiences include local, state, and national policy advocacy at The Food Trust, and fellowships at LISC, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (CAPACD) and the Village of Arts and Humanities in North Philadelphia.

Sarah Yeung
Founder & Principal

Sojourner Consulting

Qi Guo
Analyst

The team regularly partners with collaborators who bring in a range of skill sets and expertise. They include real estate developers, economists, researchers, planners and ethnographers.

Contact Us

Understanding Asian Americans in Montgomery County, PA

Client: AAPI Coalition & HealthSpark FoundationPartner: Solutions InternationalAs suburbs continue to become more racially and economically diverse, they face questions of inclusion and integration. In Montgomery County, a suburban county of Philadelphia, leaders wanted to better engage and understand priorities of the Asian American community. At the same time, local stakeholders observed a lack of data focused on this community.Sojourner developed a community profile which builds a solid foundation for stakeholders and County and local officials to act upon identified strengths and needs. The process sought to create dialogue, build community capacity, and create momentum for future implementation. Outreach included a particular focus on English language learners and immigrants.The final report will be designed for a community audience, include a set of policy recommendations, and will be the first assessment of its scale for a suburban Asian American population. It is planned to be released in 2025.

Chinatown Future Histories: Equitable Development and Public Spaces

Client: Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation (Philadelphia, PA)Partners: PolicyLink, Strategic Economics, Urban PartnersIn 2019, Sojourner led a project team to carry out a participatory planning process around equitable development and public spaces in Philadelphia Chinatown, including The Rail Park, a vision for a 3-mile adaptive reuse park across Philadelphia. Sojourner worked with PolicyLink to design an innovative series of workshops and programs for community leaders focused on residential and cultural displacement.The project culminated in a two-day Equity Lab convening with policymakers, non-profit and civic leaders from across the region.Sojourner also managed a value capture analysis of the area adjacent to The Rail Park as an advocacy tool for a TIF district to capture future value catalyzed by the park for community benefit. The analysis was carried out by Strategic Economics and Urban Partners.The final plan identified priority strategies for equitable development in Chinatown and the role of public spaces.

Planning for a Cultural District in the Legacy of Urban Renewal

Client: Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation (PCDC)
Partner: Creative Development PartnersIn Philadelphia, the area between Chinatown and the Historic District provides vehicular access to a highway and bridge. Sojourner and its partner Creative Development Partners facilitated a visioning process for local stakeholders, including African American Museum of Philadelphia and Historic Philadelphia. Stakeholders and guest advisors envisioned how to fill the gap with community-driven uses.The resulting concept plan sets out strategies to 1, 2, 3.

Improving Access to Homeless Services for Latinos and English Learners

Client: City of Philadelphia, Office of Homeless ServicesAs cities struggle with increasing rates of homelessness, they are also serving more diverse populations. The City of Philadelphia, working with strong local advocates, wanted to better understand access to the City’s homeless services for Latinx and Limited English Proficient people, or English learners. As part of the project, they also commissioned a communications plan for these populations.Sojourner worked closely with the Office of Homeless Services staff and leadership, frontline service providers, community leaders, and individuals with lived experience of homelessness to gain a broad understanding of how Latinx and LEP people understand and interact with homeless services.Sojourner also developed principles for a future communications plan which specifically considered Latinx and LEP populations.

Assessing Community Impact of the Proposed 76ers Arena

Client: City of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC)Partners: BJH Consulting and othersTogether with BJH Consulting, Sojourner assessed the community impact of a proposed sports and entertainment complex in Center City Philadelphia, including Market East, Washington Square West, and Chinatown.Sojourner led efforts to develop an innovative systems-based framework specific to Chinatown, a historic cultural community, for which the report found that the project posed a significant potential risk. Sojourner worked with community members to distill Chinatown's core identity and placing it into an analytical framework for the assessment.Sojourner managed and partnered with subconsultants Urban Partners, Creative Development Partners, Laureen Hom, Susannah Laramee Kidd to produce the following findings, among others:

  • Chinatown has evolved as a regional hub of culture, commerce, and services, as its historical role as a residential base for low-income immigrants has declined.

  • While the project would not cause direct displacement of existing residents, it could cause indirect displacement through gentrification and loss of cultural identity.

  • Using a culturally-based typology of small businesses, the project would be likely to negatively impact the majority of small businesses.

  • The cultural and language-based property market plays a central role in neighborhood change and preservation and is reflected in an analysis of property ownership.

  • Chinatown possesses a wealth of intangible cultural heritage assets such as traditional knowledge and rituals/events which are not protected from impact but which have significance for the region.