Entrepreneurial American Leadership Award
Richard C.D. Fleming is honored for his commitment to building livable and sustainable cities as a civic entrepreneur for more than 30 years while engaged in private sector and civic initiatives to revitalize cities and metropolitan communities in Atlanta, Denver, and, for the past 17 years, St. Louis.
Described by nationally-syndicated Washington Post urban affairs columnist Neal Peirce as, “Dreamer and doer, visionary and pragmatist, Dick Fleming learned well from his mentors — such men as Dan Sweat, Atlanta’s business-civic-foundation impresario, and James Rouse, lead shopping center and model town developer-turned-leader for affordable housing for Americans of all classes and races.”For more than 30 years, Fleming has been an active civic entrepreneur, engaged in initiatives to revitalize center cities and metropolitan areas from Atlanta to Denver, and now St. Louis as CEO of the St. LouisRegional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA). In January 2011, he announced that he would leave his RCGA position at year’s end, planning a move to the philanthropic world, academia, or the private sector.
He served previously in center city revitalization and regional leaderships roles at Central Atlanta Progress and the Greater Denver Chamber of Commerce, and as founding CEO of The Downtown Denver Partnership. At the federal level, he served in the Carter Sub-Cabinet at HUD, overseeing the CDBG, UDAG, Livable Cities and Neighborhood Self Help Development programs. He was a developer with The Rouse Company. His national leadership continues through active involvement with such organizations as the Urban Land Institute, and as Board Chairman of Partners for Livable Communities, the Alliance for Regional Stewardship, and Climate Prosperity, Inc. (established in 2009 by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund). He and former Denver Mayor Federico Pena received the Partners for Livable Communities Bridge Builders Award in 1997 for their work together in reviving Denver’s economy.