As New Orleans marks 20 years since Hurricane Katrina, climate threats remain an undeniable reality in the Gulf South. But equally pressing are the economic challenges that have made New Orleans increasingly unaffordable in the two decades since the devastating storm.

Sankofa Community Development Corporation and Thrive New Orleans demonstrate how climate resilience and community-driven economic development can address the evolving challenges that have emerged in New Orleans over the past two decades.

In their distinct approaches, both organizations reflect a fundamental truth born from Katrina’s aftermath: sustainable urban recovery depends on ensuring communities have the power to shape their own futures and the resources to access meaningful opportunities.

Building strong economic stability through climate resilience

Thrive New Orleans is tackling both issues head-on by creating pathways to economic stability for Black and Brown residents of the city.

While Thrive’s workforce development approach has evolved in the years since Katrina, people have remained at the center.

“It was always about helping people,” says Chuck Morse, executive director of Thrive.

In the storm’s aftermath, the organization shifted its focus toward career development in the climate resilience sector, ensuring native New Orleanians could access opportunities in industries essential to the city’s future.

“We started off with jobs in a bunch of different areas,” Morse explains. “We decided to focus on the climate piece because it was most germane to the people in New Orleans, and those were the jobs of the future in the country and world, not just New Orleans.”

Jobs in climate resilience — such as weatherization, solar energy and stormwater management — offer stability that allows individuals and families to build economic mobility. Morse has seen people move into these fields and leave behind the need to juggle two or three jobs. These roles often come with steady hours, health care benefits and clear pathways for advancement.

“This is our sweet spot. This is who we are. Our heritage, our history started in the Upper Ninth Ward. Before Katrina there was a major need for more work opportunities for people of color. Many people like to come here and enjoy the culture, but what about the people who created it?”

Investing in community, health and ownership

Across the Industrial Canal in the Lower Ninth Ward, Sankofa Community Development Corporation, led by Founder and CEO Rashida Ferdinand, is also focused on building thriving communities — in its case through neighborhood development centered on health and environment along the St. Claude Avenue corridor.

Sankofa’s Fresh Start Market, for example, is an anchor project offering fresh, affordable food while showcasing how health-centered development can improve wellness, longevity, and quality of life.

For Ferdinand, the work is personal. She comes from a family that built businesses from the ground up and understood that ownership — investing in space and shaping it to serve the community — is an act of empowerment.

“I remember when the big box and corporate chain stores became more evident,” she says. “The little stores, those smaller spaces provide a level of familiarity and intimacy, and they support what it means to be in a community space.”

Today, the St. Claude corridor is dotted with corner stores, print shops, mechanic garages and hair braiding shops —  businesses that reflect the culture and needs of residents. Still, Ferdinand says there is still work to do.

Both Thrive and Sankofa embody lessons learned since Katrina: thriving cities require community ownership and equitable access to opportunity.

For Thrive, that means ensuring New Orleanians not only benefit from climate resilience work but lead it.

“People have intimate knowledge of the landscape. You can’t forget that” says Morse. “They know which way the water flows. They created green infrastructure before it was cool. They had to do this to live. What better way to tap into knowledge than to learn from the people who had to get it out of the mud and play it by ear? Before rain barrels were painted and became a trend, they had to capture their water. It’s profound that people from this city can be part of their own solution.”

Ferdinand echoed that belief, stressing that development doesn’t have to come at the expense of displacement.

“You don’t need this development system of gentrification to make a neighborhood work. Someone told us that story, and it’s become a truth that people follow. It’s not about keeping out people from different backgrounds or higher incomes. It’s about the mentality that the way we are living is not ok, and you have to fix it and make it better.”

A vision for the next 20 years

Looking ahead 20 years, both leaders share a vision for New Orleans rooted in resilience and belonging.

Morse imagines a city that has met its climate challenges with strong infrastructure and local expertise, where residents can weather storms and remain in the communities they’ve built.

“Most importantly,” he said, “New Orleans will still be a diverse city where native people can afford to live, work and play.”

Ferdinand hopes for a healthier landscape where there is an awareness and a culture of comfort with nature-based systems.

“We have more cypress trees; we have healthy water systems and drainage that doesn’t leave us sitting seven feet below sea level.”

She also sees stable housing and vibrant community as essential parts of that future.

“It may not look the same as it did 20 years ago, but it’s possible when we use the intelligence and the science and the thoughtfulness of Indigenous cultures, who’ve lived in this place forever, have always applied to their lives here.”