Sojourner Consulting

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

Sojourner Consulting

We are known for our expertise in planning for equitable development and major project, needs assessments for immigrants, refugees and English learners, and strategic consulting. Our clients tend to be practical and focused on hard-to-reach populations. We help each client create a scope that fits their unique needs. Each project is different, but we bring the same level of focus and expertise to all of them.

Planning for Equitable Development and Major Projects

Projects
Cultural District Planning
Fair Housing Coalition
76ers Community Impact Assessment

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.

Needs Assessments for Immigrants, Refugees and English Learners

Projects
Montgomery County AAPI Needs Assessment
Latinx and LEP Access to Office of Homeless Services

We help clients conduct needs assessments to understand how they can improve their programs and policies. Clients develop actionable recommendations on policy, planning, and communications, and improve their understanding of how to engage stakeholders.In particular, we are known for our work with immigrants, refugees and English learners. We bring the following skills to this work:

  • Ability to understand, respect, and respond appropriately to the diverse cultural backgrounds, values, beliefs, and practices of immigrant and refugee communities

  • Focus on building relationships

  • Knowledge of how to use interpretation and translation

  • Ability to help navigate through complex systems

  • A trauma-informed approach

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. They value our unique perspective and approach to ensure their work has the impact they want.

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 bring our policy and cultural expertise to teams with technical expertise in design, engineering, and economic analysis.Human-Centered. We try to understand people's experiences and perspectives and the different systems they are navigating. We use qualitative tools and approaches to get rich, nuanced information. We spend a lot of time walking around 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 the Philly Suburbs

Client: Asian American Coalition for Health & HealthSpark FoundationLeaders in Montgomery County, a Philadelphia suburb, commissioned an assessment of the Asian American community in order to better understand its strengths, challenges, and unique characteristics. This will be the first assessment of its scale focused on an Asian, suburban population.Through a comprehensive, mixed-methods approach, Sojourner is developing a review of the diverse populations which are transforming Montgomery County, PA.The final report will include policy recommendations.

Landscape Review for The Rail Park

Client: The Rail Park (Philadelphia, PA)The Rail Park is a vision for a 3-mile adaptive reuse park which stretches across the City of Philadelphia. The non-profit organization sought to conduct equitable development planning in the local communities throughout the span of the future park.Through stakeholder interviews and research, Sojourner developed a landscape review of the diverse neighborhoods, histories and development trends surrounding the future park.The final report issued recommendations for how the organization can engage communities and reposition its programs and services to better address equitable development goals.

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.

Latinx and LEP service access

For community development funders or organizations seeking to develop the capacity and practical imagination of staff and field leaders, placing a strategist in an arts and culture organization can be an important training tool.

  • Increased knowledge of relevant regulatory and political systems, which may help the organization to better identify leverage points for affecting change;

  • Increased understanding of how to work with, support and challenge actors in community development (i.e. elected officials, legal aid organizations, housing authorities, etc.);

  • Increased understanding of how to explore, conceptualize and evaluate community development opportunities for the organization;