COMMUNITY

Amina Pierson

How a passion for transformation fueled a community

Amina shares her career in community and economic development and passion for transformation and seeing things change

By Mary Farucci

Amina Pierson is all about community building. Over the last two and half years, she has been serving as the Executive Director of the MartindaleBrightwood Community Development Corporation in Indianapolis. The neighborhood itself is situated on the near northeast side of the city, bounded by 30th Street, Massachusetts Avenue, 21st Street, Sherman Drive and the Monon Trail.

“I always wanted a community center,” Amina said. “I’m just really happy to see the progress. When I say progress, I mean community development and economic development.”

Originally from Orange, New Jersey, Amina spent most of her life in Philadelphia where she graduated from Temple University in 1985. It was there she discovered her love and passion for community and community development.

“I’ve always been extremely outgoing and I love people,” she said. “I mean, I’m just very fond of different types of people. Where they live. How they live.”

Amina explained that upon her arrival at Temple, she had always wanted to go to a college that wasn’t segregated into a college town. She wanted to be right in the middle of everything in a city setting.

“Temple is in North Philadelphia, which is an extremely urban area, and I would say, low-to-moderate income. That’s what got me into community development,” she explained. “I saw the differences between the different areas of Philadelphia.”

During her days as a fresh-faced, inquisitive college student, she began thinking about her desire to own a community center that would take care of the neighborhood. Since North Philadelphia is a predominantly African-American neighborhood with a low-tomoderate income level, this prospect was important to her.

She also mentioned that while it was her surroundings that inspired her, Amina realized what she really saw herself doing was making an impact on communities and neighborhoods.

“Where I grew up in Orange, NJ it was one small town. It was one small town with one small high school. Then, you come to Philadelphia and it’s a huge city with a variety of different types of neighborhoods. So, yes, I saw the disparity. I saw the differences and I just said, ‘It’s not fair.’ There are so many talented people who may not reach their potential because they might not have access to resources.”

When Amina came to Indianapolis, she spent many years working in community economic development, which was called community reinvestment. Over the years, she delved into community and economic development, learning much about small businesses as well as the policies around housing.

“Transformation and seeing change is a great feeling,” she said. “I’m a really optimistic person, and just naturally, I want to solve problems. I’m always looking for a resolution. So when I think about what I want to happen here, I definitely want to be a part of the change.”

The Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood happens to be one of the highest impacted areas of COVID-19 in Indianapolis. “There has been a drastic impact here on unemployment, homelessness and other things that come from COVID-19,” Amina added. “I think that a lot of growth came with connecting people. I’m very much focused on purpose. I love to see stepping stones where you create something sustainable.”

Amina mentioned that what inspires her most in her role is the reaction to what gets done. “We get letters, cards and things from homeowners who appreciate the repairs that have been done. There are many seniors in the area who love it here and wouldn’t mind new development on their block or even new greenspace on their block, but they want to stay on the block too. They don’t want to be pushed aside so that this new development can come in.”

Her goal for the Martindale-Brightwood community is to see the revitalization of the area without displacement, and the unemployment level decrease. “I want to see a modern neighborhood, even innovative and advanced, without displacing people.” Z

I’m a really optimistic person, and just naturally, I want to solve problems. I’m always looking for a resolution. So when I think about what I want to happen here, I definitely want to be a part of the change.”