In addition to his academic research, teaching, and service, Dr. Hutson is the co-founder and managing principal of The NIAM Group, a professional services consulting firm. He has nearly 20 years of experience working on numerous research, policy and community-centered projects, both nationally and internationally, in cities such as Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, New Orleans, Oakland, San Francisco, Santiago, Chile, and Toronto, Canada. The following are some of my professional work:
Oakland Unified School District:
Central Kitchen, Urban Farm, and Education Center
My firm conducted the community engagement process for Oakland Unified School's District's Central Kitchen, Urban Farm, and Education Center (The Center). The Center will be the hub of the new district-wide school food program network that connects nutrition, education, and community programs at OUSD's schools, kitchens, gardens, and produce market stands. At the central kitchen and commissary, students will observe professionally trained cooks at work and see how to prepare approximately seven million meals each year for 38,099 school children. The farm and greenhouse will serve as a learning laboratory, where students will experience urban agriculture firsthand. The teaching kitchen will provide classes for students, nutrition service staff, and the community. The Foster Center as a whole will help develop College and Career Pathways, allow for Field Trips and Tours, contribute to STEM Education, Expanded Learning / Adult Education and Professional Development.
Rethinking School Lunch Oakland is supported with major funding from the
S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, The California Endowment, and TomKat Charitable Trust.
Read OUSD's Concept Paper Here: http://www.ousdthecenter.org/uploads/4/2/0/4/42049503/ousd_central_kitchen_concept_paper.pdf
Central Kitchen, Urban Farm, and Education Center
My firm conducted the community engagement process for Oakland Unified School's District's Central Kitchen, Urban Farm, and Education Center (The Center). The Center will be the hub of the new district-wide school food program network that connects nutrition, education, and community programs at OUSD's schools, kitchens, gardens, and produce market stands. At the central kitchen and commissary, students will observe professionally trained cooks at work and see how to prepare approximately seven million meals each year for 38,099 school children. The farm and greenhouse will serve as a learning laboratory, where students will experience urban agriculture firsthand. The teaching kitchen will provide classes for students, nutrition service staff, and the community. The Foster Center as a whole will help develop College and Career Pathways, allow for Field Trips and Tours, contribute to STEM Education, Expanded Learning / Adult Education and Professional Development.
Rethinking School Lunch Oakland is supported with major funding from the
S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, The California Endowment, and TomKat Charitable Trust.
Read OUSD's Concept Paper Here: http://www.ousdthecenter.org/uploads/4/2/0/4/42049503/ousd_central_kitchen_concept_paper.pdf
The PEW Charitable Trusts and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Heath Impact Project
I served as a reviewer for the first round of The PEW Charitable Trusts and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Impact Project grants, a national initiative designed to promote the use of health impact assessments (HIAs) as a decision-making tool for policymakers.
"HIA helps identify and address the health impacts of policies and decisions in non-health sectors, such as building a major roadway, planning a city’s growth, or developing agricultural policy. An HIA includes practical strategies to enhance their health benefits and minimize adverse effects. A strong HIA acknowledges the trade-offs and potential costs and benefits of various options."
The PEW Charitable Trusts and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Impact Project
This work also led me to serving as an advisor to the nation's first youth-driven HIA with Youth UpRising in Oakland, California.
The focus of the HIA was to understand the characteristics and potential health impacts of the addition of a second career academy at Castlemont High School in the East Oakland community.
The Youth-Driven Health Impact Assessment enabled youth researchers to identify the challenges facing the East Oakland community such as poverty, unemployment, violence, fear, disinvestment, and distrust. The researchers were able to understand how the development of an additional career academy at Castlemont High School would have a positive impact because it could potentially provide the needed social support within the school environment, increase graduation rates, and better prepare youth to enter the labor market. In addition, the researchers conducted key informant interviews with local experts in the health and education fields and were able to elucidate the challenges and barriers to creating and running a successful career academy as well as the importance of each participant—student, teacher, and parent as well as the broader community. Based on their assessment over the course of the HIA, the researchers recommended that a new career academy be designed within Castlemont High School and be run under a new organization—Castlemont Community Transformation Schools (CCTS)—which will develop a linked learning model to be fully implemented at both Castlemont High School and at the middle school level.
I served as a reviewer for the first round of The PEW Charitable Trusts and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Impact Project grants, a national initiative designed to promote the use of health impact assessments (HIAs) as a decision-making tool for policymakers.
"HIA helps identify and address the health impacts of policies and decisions in non-health sectors, such as building a major roadway, planning a city’s growth, or developing agricultural policy. An HIA includes practical strategies to enhance their health benefits and minimize adverse effects. A strong HIA acknowledges the trade-offs and potential costs and benefits of various options."
The PEW Charitable Trusts and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Impact Project
This work also led me to serving as an advisor to the nation's first youth-driven HIA with Youth UpRising in Oakland, California.
The focus of the HIA was to understand the characteristics and potential health impacts of the addition of a second career academy at Castlemont High School in the East Oakland community.
The Youth-Driven Health Impact Assessment enabled youth researchers to identify the challenges facing the East Oakland community such as poverty, unemployment, violence, fear, disinvestment, and distrust. The researchers were able to understand how the development of an additional career academy at Castlemont High School would have a positive impact because it could potentially provide the needed social support within the school environment, increase graduation rates, and better prepare youth to enter the labor market. In addition, the researchers conducted key informant interviews with local experts in the health and education fields and were able to elucidate the challenges and barriers to creating and running a successful career academy as well as the importance of each participant—student, teacher, and parent as well as the broader community. Based on their assessment over the course of the HIA, the researchers recommended that a new career academy be designed within Castlemont High School and be run under a new organization—Castlemont Community Transformation Schools (CCTS)—which will develop a linked learning model to be fully implemented at both Castlemont High School and at the middle school level.
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The Opportunity Agenda Health Equity Mapping Project
I served on the advisory committee to the Health Equity Mapping Project for The Opportunity Agenda. The Opportunity Agenda, with support from the Health Policy Institute at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, commissioned a series of papers examining the effectiveness of web based mapping, and the role it can play in promoting health equity. The papers offer scholarly, practical, technical, and historical perspectives on the usefulness of mapping. Health advocates can deepen their understanding of this powerful and persuasive tool (The Opportunity Agenda, 2014).
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U.S. Soccer Foundation
I am currently an advisor to the U.S. Soccer Foundation. I am assisting them in their work around the Soccer for Success Program, a free afterschool program that uses soccer as a tool to combat childhood obesity and promote healthy lifestyles for children in under-resourced urban communities. The U.S. Soccer Foundation partners with community-based organizations across the country to provide thousands of children with free afterschool programming three times per week for the entire school year. They have funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to conduct a pilot program in Kansas City, Missouri; Los Angeles; New Orleans, and New York City.
I am currently an advisor to the U.S. Soccer Foundation. I am assisting them in their work around the Soccer for Success Program, a free afterschool program that uses soccer as a tool to combat childhood obesity and promote healthy lifestyles for children in under-resourced urban communities. The U.S. Soccer Foundation partners with community-based organizations across the country to provide thousands of children with free afterschool programming three times per week for the entire school year. They have funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to conduct a pilot program in Kansas City, Missouri; Los Angeles; New Orleans, and New York City.