Small-scale, HUGE Impact.

MISSON

Tiny WPA’s mission is to grow and support a diverse multigenerational community of civic change agents—Building Heroes—who want to learn how to design-build great things, make a difference in their community(s), and through design lead others in making Philadelphia a better, safer, healthier, more equitable, and prosperous place to live, work and play.

The organization is committed to building equity, better designed spaces, and stronger places in Philadelphia by supporting citizen-led design improvements.

HISTORY

Named after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration, Tiny WPA was conceived in 2012 and piloted as a program of Public Workshop with a focus on youth-led community design improvement projects. Due to growing interest in small creative interventions as well as the need to connect, grow and support a movement of community design leaders, Alex Gilliam and Renee Schacht expanded and evolved Tiny WPA into a nonprofit organization in 2014.

Its programmatic activities, neighborhood revitalization efforts, design-build projects, and creative placemaking initiatives vary in scope, but all are small in scale, community based, needs-driven, action-oriented and collaborative. Its Building Hero Project provides youth and adults from diverse social and economic backgrounds with innovative, year-round training in design, collaboration, leadership, fabrication, and entrepreneurship. In addressing specific problems and transforming their community, participants gain valuable life-long design and leadership skills to become the next generation of civic change agents.