Majora Carter
Award-winning developer and broadcaster, Carter teaches how purpose-led projects deliver returns across sectors.
Why you should book Majora Carter for your next event
- Quoted in the Smithsonian, featured by TED, and trusted by companies like Google and Cisco for community-centered innovation strategy.
- Deployed MIT’s first Mobile Fab-Lab in an underserved area, pioneering creative tech education before maker spaces went mainstream.
- Named Best for the World by B-Corp and honored with 8 PhDs, Carter’s work proves how equity-driven development delivers national-scale impact.
Non-binding request for Majora Carter
Helping Communities Thrive Where They Are
Majora Carter is a MacArthur Fellow, real estate developer, and urban revitalization expert who transforms overlooked communities into engines of growth. She helps organizations drive talent retention, economic inclusion, and long-term impact through place-based, sustainable development. Her keynotes offer actionable insights that align equity with profitability.
Majora Carter is an award-winning real estate developer, urban revitalization strategist, and MacArthur Fellow, widely recognized for her groundbreaking work in transforming under-resourced communities into vibrant, economically sustainable neighborhoods. Born, raised, and still living in the South Bronx, she brings unmatched authenticity and deep expertise to conversations around equity, investment, and place-based development.
Carter holds degrees from the Bronx High School of Science, Wesleyan University, and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is the founder of Sustainable South Bronx, where she pioneered green infrastructure projects and launched MIT’s first Mobile Fab-Lab in a low-income community. She also founded StartUp Box, a tech social enterprise that created pathways into the innovation economy, and opened Boogie Down Grind—the first commercial “third space” in Hunts Point in over 30 years.
Her work has helped major organizations like Google, Cisco, and FreshDirect connect with underserved markets, align ESG and DEI goals, and drive long-term value through community-focused strategy. Her expertise is especially relevant to companies and cities looking to reduce brain drain, retain talent, and create environments where people and businesses thrive together.
As a keynote speaker, Majora Carter delivers bold insights and proven frameworks that inspire action and drive results.
Book Majora Carter for your event to explore how inclusive development, talent retention, and sustainable investment can reshape communities—and unlock real growth.
You Don't Have to Leave Your Neighborhood to Live in a Better One | Majora Carter | TED
Watch Majora Carter in action
Keynotes
Keynote by Majora Carter: Talent Retention in Low Status Communities
Decades of Philanthropic and Government spending produce concentrated poverty and exacerbate all the negative aspects of incarceration, health outcomes, education, and inequality, or...displacement. Neither are desired, and there are market-based alternatives we can attain in cities everywhere.
Keynote by Majora Carter: Diversity, Without Saying "Diversity"
The current political climate can be intimidating, but the real value of diversity isn't going away. What are other ways to look at vexing challenges, and making your team, organization, corporation, your community stronger and more resilient.
Keynote by Majora Carter: Displacement or Poverty Maintenance, We can do better
Gentrification doesn't start when you think it does. Let's look at the root causes and harness the wealth created by decades of American re-urbanization
Keynote by Majora Carter: Mandates vs Incentives
Push or Pull, which is better?
