Let’s work together to forge a Miami that works for all | Opinion
I’ve long recognized that Miami and I are interconnected.
I was born and raised here. After going away for school, I was drawn back to Miami to pursue my career and start a family. It has shaped who I am by giving me unique opportunities in work and life.
Like any lifelong Miamian, I have tracked the city’s ups and downs. There have been times when this amazing city has not been taken seriously or counted out entirely.
More recently, the city’s spirit and dynamism have ushered in a new phase. Miami has become a high-growth commercial hub and a preferred destination for business and investment.
No other city offers the same opportunity for entrepreneurs and executives alike. It’s a frontier town that welcomes and provides a supportive environment for anyone with an idea and a work ethic.
But I’ve also noted how this growth has created a host of challenges. The truth is Miami today is at a crossroads. It’s unaffordable for too many residents. Its infrastructure hasn’t kept pace with its rapid evolution. And a quality education isn’t yet accessible to all students.
We face serious questions: How can we harness today’s momentum to forge a city that serves all its residents? How do we make the right investments to support future growth?
The answer is that we as citizens need to roll up our sleeves and get to work.
As part of this critical work, I am serving as a founding co-chair of the Partnership for Miami. We are business leaders acting in the civic interest to build a world-class Miami that works for everyone.
[This week, a group of 22-prominent Miami business, sports and civic leaders, including billionaire newcomers Ken Griffin and Orlando Bravo announced the formation of a new nonprofit organization that will focus on promoting broad-based prosperity for residents while developing solutions for the city’s most pressing issues, the Miami Herald reported.]
We envision a Miami that balances growth and affordability, champions smart development, shores up school systems and government institutions and maintains the natural and built environment to ensure it is thriving for decades to come.
Recently, we released Miami 2035: A Miami That Works for All. We fervently hope that this civic agenda, jointly developed with dozens of local stakeholders over the past year, inspires reflection on the type of city we aim to build, ignites a renewed level of civic engagement throughout our community, and catalyzes the necessary actions to develop a Miami that benefits everyone.
Many major U.S. cities—from Washington, DC, to Chicago to Los Angeles—have benefited from similar fact-based, nongovernmental organizations that mobilize the private sector to support civic initiatives. Our aim is to serve Miami in this role.
Our mission is personal to me. I have always been committed to giving back to the city that’s given me so much. Civic duty is a value I learned from my parents, who came to the United States as adolescents.
They championed a range of causes—from drawing attention to quality-of-life issues and rebuilding Miami after Hurricane Andrew to supporting the arts and education.
Through my father’s example of civic leadership and engagement, I learned that service to one’s community is the foundation of our democracy.
It’s why my company, Codina Partners, has built several successful projects that have elevated the quality of life in neighborhoods across the Miami region.
One of our guiding principles is to leave every community better than when we found it. Downtown Doral Charter Elementary School and Downtown Doral Charter Upper School—top-performing institutions that expand opportunity to students from all backgrounds—are prime examples.
My commitment to our city has never been greater, and the Partnership offers a powerful new platform for engagement.
I hope everyone who feels like I do will join the effort to create a Miami that works for all.
Ana-Marie Codina Barlick is the co-chair of The Partnership for Miami. She is the CEO of Codina Partners, a real estate development and investment firm focused on driving the successful transformation of South Florida’s communities into vital, prosperous centers for living, working, culture and commerce. In 2009, she established the firm with her father Armando Codina and oversees all operations.
