Michelle Purnell-Hepburn share her insights on Modern Urban Life as VAST acknowledges her family legacy in honor of Black History Month.*** 

What is the Modern Urban Life?

It resides in Community.

It is more than a definition in the dictionary.

It is a group of like-minded people living in harmony and in peace, where

support for each other is demonstrated in the infrastructure as well as the smiles and waves we share as we pass each other throughout our day.

My dear parents, James C. and Mardine Purnell were proud Americans, born and raised in the South, who migrated to the Great Pacific Northwest for a better life, following the advice of my paternal grandfather Clarence Purnell, who wired the message, “The streets out here are paved in gold”.

Once here, as African Americans, they discovered that they needed to overcome a different kind of prejudice from the type they had experienced in the South – access to the capital was required to fully participate. My parents knew that the future of their family and friends was predicated in fully participating in the development of the modern urban landscape they called home. Their circle of friends chose to focus on access to opportunity and the circulating of wealth throughout their own nascent, urban community. They engineered a path of inclusion and expansion in the vaults of Liberty Bank. 

This community of ingenious colleagues took responsibility for expanding the financial support for the purchase of homes and the normal growth of small to mid-size businesses while enriching their community. 

In taking action through Liberty Bank of Seattle, they not only funded the hopes and dreams of the minority community, but as a result of their forward-thinking ways, raised themselves and their firstborn daughter to a higher economic standard than if they had continued to live in the South. They appreciated and experienced the full zest of Modern Urban Life and the joyful opportunities it had to offer, as their business encouraged both friends and family not only to build, but also guide the magic and wisdom of their chosen city. This story of my family illustrates the best about this series on Modern Urban Life.

The Modern Urbanite that Professor Vesmanov speaks to is at the heart of community. 

As we garner the wisdom in including the sociological research of human elements in the planning of schools, communities, recreational spaces, and experiences, we honor the work of those who envisioned a cityscape that reflects the best in us. We are nations of communities , and as we create what is next, we have a solid roadmap to consider embedded within this professional enrichment series. Enjoy. 

Michelle Purnell Hepburn - Seattle WA. 

Distinguished recipient of 2021 Foster School of Business ABBS Thadeus Spratlen Legacy Award 

DEI Director for Seattle Foundation

Reprinted with permission from VAST Institute, LLC, Modern Urban Life Class Series Workbook. All rights reserved