SOI Assistant Professor Rebekah Radtke is one of 20 community leaders from cities across the United States to have been selected to participate in the 2018 Emerging City Champions fellowship program. The program provides leadership development and funding for young civic innovators with unique solutions to improve public spaces, transportation and civic engagement in their cities. Now in its fourth year, the program is led by 8 80 Cities, a nonprofit organization based in Toronto, Canada, and funded by the John S. and James. L. Knight Foundation.

Radtke, who received a $5,000 grant, is leading a collaborative design process to activate an underutilized lot and create a community gathering space between the University of Kentucky campus and downtown Lexington. “I am honored to receive this fellowship, which will help us expand the work from this semester focusing on community engaged research methodology,” she said. “It will allow us to further student ideas and build upon the partnerships we have in Lexington and UK to create a space to connect downtown to campus.”