As we look ahead to a new year, I have asked some Memphians who care deeply about their city’s future for their resolutions or reflections for 2024. I am deeply grateful for their thoughtful submissions.   

Today’s contributions are from Marlon Foster, chief executive officer, Knowledge Quest; Elena Delavega, PhD, Professor and DSW Program Director, University of Memphis School of Social Work; Anna Mullins Ellis, president and CEO of New Memphis, and Michael Allen, executive director, Memphis Botanic Garden. 

Marlon Foster, chief executive officer, Knowledge Quest:

In 2024 the Great City of Memphis resolved to fully express itself as a place where all children were extended opportunity, all families experienced social and economic mobility and all citizens operated in faith toward this promise. 

 

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Elena Delavega, PhD, Professor and DSW Program Director, University of Memphis School of Social Work, and co-author of Memphis Poverty Fact Sheet: 

What I would really like for the new year is to see a living wage implemented in Memphis and in all of Tennessee. Low wages are the main cause of poverty. Together with a living wage, I would also like to have the structural supports that make maintaining employment possible: efficient and effective public transportation and subsidized child care. Universal healthcare and low-cost credit for all would complete this package but those may be beyond the scope of what a city can do. We would need a lot less charity if we had all of the above. What people in poverty need is real opportunity. 

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Anna Mullins Ellis, president and CEO of New Memphis:

The end of the year is right around the corner, and we at New Memphis hope you are able to take some time to reflect if you have not done so already. What are some accomplishments you achieved? What did you learn? What goals do you have for 2024?

Once you reflect on your year, I’d love for you to reflect about your New Memphis experience and see how it has impacted you professionally and personally. Are you still in touch with others from your cohort? What skills did you learn, and how do you use them in your current role? Have you attended any New Memphis events recently?

If you look back fondly on your experience with New Memphis, help us celebrate the end of the year by contributing to an end-of-year gift. You can do so through our donation webpage. You are also able to donate monthly if you’d like.

I appreciate your support, and on behalf of the New Memphis Board of Trustees, we wish you a safe and happy holiday season!

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Michael Allen, executive director, Memphis Botanic Garden:

Growth at Memphis’ Garden

As the last leaves of Fall drop and the calendar turns toward Winter, I am grateful to look both backward and forward with regard to the Memphis Botanic Garden. Memphis is blessed with a thriving, 96 acre, center-city, oasis situated between the two “avenues” (Poplar and Park) in the heart of our city. 

This year just ending saw new horticultural investment, energy, and activities undertaken, each of which will come to fruition in 2024 and benefit the Garden for decades to come. More on those in just a minute.

From my personal and professional perspective, 2023 was most gratifying, as we clearly (and finally!) exited from pandemic era difficulties. Our Education programming returned to full strength with field trips and school activities approaching pre-pandemic levels. In fact, we served almost 40,000 school children again this year. Giving these students the opportunity to visit our grounds and interact more fully with nature. Our outdoor stage was busy with arguably its best season ever of Memphis’s favorite outdoor music concert series: Live at the Garden! Rental events, including weddings, bar mitzvah’s, Quinceanera’s, Celebrations of Life, and more added flavor to everything we do. As I write this, our annual seasonal light show, Holiday Wonders at the Garden is underway with near record attendance.

But, I think it is our efforts horticulturally that make me the most proud this year. Through an investment of more dollars, new leadership, and new staff, a new energy and a willingness to push the envelope permeates, each of our 31 specialty gardens. 

So much behind-the-scenes work was completed in 2023 and this new year, will see the beauty of these efforts fully materialize. Things like…

  • Our newly modernized 2.5 acre Arboretum
  • The dedication of a brand, new Youth Education and Tropical Plant House
  • The opening of a new Family Pavilion / Rest Area ( bathrooms) at the south end of our Garden
  • During the spring of 2024 we will also unveil our new “spring blooms color garden”… a large swath of planted beds, adding months-long glorious color and which will be certain to be a tourist favorite.

These projects are the culmination of a multi-year, $6 million campaign which, when combined with our earlier, 2017 campaign have served to modernize our infrastructure, increase our accessibility for all, improve our guest experience, and better situate the Memphis Botanic Garden for decades to come.