A new online series launching this week features stories of people making change in cities with the goal to demystify the process of converting ideas into action.

“People Changing Cities” will profile five individuals each week working on urban issues such as transit, community and civic engagement, planning, food and economic development. Cities of focus include Detroit, Cleveland, the Bay Area, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

The 26-week series, supported by the Kresge Foundation’s American Cities Project, is hosted by Urban Innovation Exchange in partnership with: Meeting of the Minds, which organizes summits on urban issues; Issue Media Group, an online magazine publisher; Tumml, an urban ventures accelerator; and Kiva, and online small-business lending platform.

Among the inaugural class of Urban Innovators is Detroit’s Sommer Woods, vice president of external relations and marketing for the M-1 Rail project.

The series is being formally introduced at the annual Meeting of the Minds summit today in Richmond, Calif. View the live webcast from Meeting of the Minds’ annual summit.

In addition, Kresge President and CEO Rip Rapson is speaking at the summit on the future of philanthropic efforts in post-bankruptcy Detroit. The Kresge Foundation works to expand opportunities in America’s cities.

More information on the series and the individuals featured in it is available on the Urban Innovation Exchange website. Visitors to the site can sign up to receive weekly email updates about the series.