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Syracuse native Raquan Pride-Green didn’t choose a career in public service. For him, roles such as program manager of Onondaga County Promise Zone and executive director of Blueprint 15 chose him. 

“I felt like I could be an asset to any community, but why not be an asset to my own?” Pride-Green said. 

Pride-Green, an alumnus of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, has held various roles as a community advocate in Syracuse over the past several years. He assumed the position of executive director of Blueprint 15, a nonprofit dedicated to neighborhood development and anti-displacement efforts in the East Adams neighborhood, in August. 

Blueprint 15 formed partially in response to concerns around displacement that could result from the impending Interstate-81 removal project. New York state plans to begin work on the aging highway in 2022 to replace the current viaduct with a community grid alternative that will redirect some traffic onto city streets. Some residents worry that the project will force them from their homes once the viaduct comes down.

Pride-Green for the most part grew up in Pioneer Homes, a subsidized housing neighborhood in the shadow of I-81. He said it was the loyalty and care he feels for his own community that led him to pursue social activism.

As a teenager, Pride-Green volunteered at places like the Boys and Girls Club of Syracuse and the South Side Community Center. Supporting youth is especially important to him after seeing the positive impact that people who supported him in his childhood had on his adult life, he said.  

“Sometimes it’s just one simple conversation that sticks with a child, or a teenager, that gets them through,” Pride-Green said.

The Onondaga County Promise Zone initiative is a county program that serves students in the Syracuse City School District who face emotional and behavioral challenges. The initiative works directly with SCSD schools to provide emotional, behavioral and academic support for students who need it, Pride-Green said.

Pride-Green also worked with students in the community during his time as a Newhouse graduate student. He received a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Rhode Island before pursuing his master’s in television, radio and film at Newhouse.

Jason Kohlbrenner, a Newhouse television, radio and film professor, worked with Pride-Green closely on Smart Kids, a years-long research project that taught fourth, fifth and sixth grade students in the community how to tell stories through video. 

Pride-Green was involved in the project throughout its duration, Kohlbrenner said. Through this project, Kohlbrenner witnessed first-hand Pride-Green’s natural ability to engage with students. 

“I just see his smile, too, when he’s engaging with students, with kids, and passing on his knowledge,” Kohlbrenner said. 

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As a Newhouse student, Pride-Green dove right in and found joy in video production, Kohlbrenner said. But Pride-Green showed interest in other avenues of mass communications as well. 

Rick Wright, one of Pride-Green’s professors in the television, radio and film department, said that Pride-Green used to come to his office often. They would usually discuss the entrepreneurial side of mass communications, which Pride-Green was particularly interested in, Wright said.

“Most of the Newhouse students I’ve had always wanted to be on air, in production and performance roles, but he always talked about the ownership side,” Wright said. “He’s just a joy. He walks in the office, and he lights the room up.”  

Wright said that Pride-Green’s interest in the business-side of communications makes him a strong leader for Blueprint 15. 

Through his previous roles as a community advocate, the most important lesson that Pride-Green said he learned, and what he hopes to take into his role at Blueprint 15, is that progress takes time. 

When working with Promise Zone, Pride-Green would sometimes come across a student who needed extra or different help than other students. Sometimes Pride-Green and the Promise Zone team would have to change their methods or switch the people who the child was working with before achieving a breakthrough. 

Similarly, Blueprint 15 has a lot of important work to do, Pride-Green said, but it’s important that the team remains patient and stays the course despite any setbacks they may face.

“Planning the right goals, the right short-term goals, so that you can get those small victories, that’ll keep everyone encouraged and engaged,” he said.

Blueprint 15 is currently in a “master planning phase,” soliciting input from residents and community stakeholders around housing issues in the community, Pride Green said. The nonprofit aims to develop the overall quality of the neighborhood in addition to resolving housing-related issues. 

“You can’t just replace housing with better housing and expect a change in that community,” Pride-Green said. “What we’re focusing on is the educational component and the health and wellness component.”

After receiving his master’s from Newhouse, Pride-Green went on to work as a production assistant for CBS Sports in New York City for several years before joining Promise Zone and moving back to Syracuse. 

Kohlbrenner isn’t surprised to see Pride-Green take on this leadership position, considering how he took on a myriad of projects as a Newhouse student. 

“It’s been his projection, his trajectory,” Kohlbrenner said. “He’s someone who has done nothing but give back to his community. These roles that he’s been able to move into are just a testament to his work ethic.” 

Overall, Pride-Green said he wants to see an increase in opportunities for current and future residents of the East Adams neighborhood to create a decent and comfortable life for themselves. 

“No one should have to struggle through poverty, especially for generations,” he said. “If everyone can have access to those resources and those opportunities, things would change for the better, for everyone.”

Published on November 16, 2021 at 11:36 pm

Contact Sarah: [email protected] | @sarahalessan