Nehemiah Dixon isn’t a stranger to change. A D.C. native who grew up in Southeast, Dixon hasn’t sat idly by as his hometown has evolved.
“Growing up in Southeast, I remember what this city looked like in the 1990s. When I was living on 16th Street in the mid-2000s, I remember when the cranes came up,” he recalls. But rather than protest, move out, or bemoan gentrification, Dixon, an accomplished artist, saw an opportunity. “I want[ed] to stay in the middle and make compromises,” he says. “I want[ed] to try to do something with communities to help improve people’s lives.”
These days, as the District’s housing prices continue to rise, Dixon is working to have a say in how his changing city is supporting its longtime residents. Creating maker spaces, he’s discovered, is a way to do that.
Dixon is the founder and CEO of NonStop…
