Sojourner Consulting is a mission-driven planning consultancy dedicated to creating more equitable, sustainable, and inclusive places.
We are known for our expertise in two areas: planning for equitable development and immigrants, refugees and English learners. These broad, under-resourced topics include a range of developing strategies for different contexts. We help each client create a scope that fits their needs.As a result, our projects range widely. Common activities include building unlikely coalitions, stakeholder-driven planning and land use strategy, and policy analysis.
Planning for Equitable Development
Projects
Cultural District Planning
Fair Housing Coalition
76ers Community Impact Assessment
Communities experiencing gentrification or large-scale development face a unique, complex set of challenges. People may lose housing affordability and economic opportunity, while social and political networks fracture. We help communities identify what's important to them, set strategies to reach their goals, and help navigate a brave new world.In this area of work, we often:
Design planning and policy strategies which guard against displacement and build local assets.
Facilitate conversations among groups with diverse interests, including developers, policymakers, and philanthropy.
Incorporate historical, social, and cultural context into analyses.
Carry out participatory processes that center the voices of the most impacted.
Immigrants, Refugees and English Language Learners
Projects
Montgomery County AAPI Needs Assessment
Latinx and LEP Access to Office of Homeless Services
Working with immigrants, refugees and ELLs requires a specific set of skillsets and knowledge. These include a trauma-informed approach, building trust and rapport, knowledge of how to use interpretation and translation, ability to help navigate through complex systems, and the ability to understand, respect, and respond appropriately to the diverse cultural backgrounds, values, beliefs, and practices of immigrant and refugee communities.We support the creation of more inclusive programs and services for a diverse population through an assets-based approach. Clients develop actionable recommendations on policy and planning, and come to an increased understanding of how to build working relationships with stakeholders.
Strategic Consulting
Clients
Latino Equitable Development Collective
Mortgage Bankers Association
In addition to our core areas, we provide strategic support for work related to community engagement, program development and organizational planning.We support 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.
Place-Based. We are planners who love unique places and the intricate ecosystems which support them. We often support places which are experiencing development and rapid change.Human-Centered. We use qualitative tools, design thinking and system approaches to ground our work in community experience and address root causes. We combine these methods with more traditional, technical approaches.Culturally Competent. We thrive in multicultural, multilingual environments. We often work with immigrants, refugees and English Language Learners (ELLs).
Selected Clients
Ceiba - Latino Equitable Development Collective
City of Philadelphia
Friends of the Rail Park
HealthSpark Foundation
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
Mortgage Bankers Association
New Mainstream Media
Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation
Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation
PolicyLink
Spiral Q Puppet Theater
Urban Manufacturing Alliance
Village of Arts and Humanities
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
Vanessa Xie
Project Manager
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;