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Art: Nat Damm
Anita Maltbia
Director, Green Impact Zone
Kansas City, Mo.
Anita Maltbia is spearheading the transformation of 150 square blocks of Kansas City, Mo., from blight to bright. The Green Impact Zone project,
which she directs, is resuscitating this economically depressed
African-American neighborhood by putting local residents to work
weatherizing the zone’s 2,500 homes and by developing a bus
rapid-transit system that will connect the zone to other parts of the
region. With $50 million in funding from
the federal economic-stimulus package, the initiative will also offer
community policing, job training, and health and wellness programs.
Maltbia, who has 30 years of experience in city government and
community activism, earned a coveted spot in the First Lady’s box at
this year’s State of the Union address.
Meet more people who are redefining green.
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