Ilana Preuss is on a mission to save America’s struggling towns and cities. The community development coach works with locals across the country who are trying to overcome decades of underinvestment, poor planning, and other obstacles. She advocates equitable, inclusive economic development. “Because of systemic racism, because of our economic policies, we have created a nation where so many of our smaller cities and so many of our urban neighborhoods, particularly where Blacks and Latinos are the majority of the population, have been left behind,” says Preuss, the founder and chief executive officer of consulting firm Recast City in Washington, D.C.
Now, because of the pandemic’s devastating effect on countless small businesses (see “Small Businesses’ Uneven Recovery”) and the downtown districts they used to inhabit, mayors, city planners, economic development…
