Face to Watch

j For John Barros '96 neighborhoodactivism is just part of life. At 17 hewas elected to the communityboard of a local group trying to revitalize his neighborhood. In 1999Barros took over as full-time executive director of that neighborhoodorganization, the Dudley StreetNeighborhood Initiative (DSNI),founded in 1985 to empower residents of Boston's Roxbury andDorchester neighborhoods to planand control their surroundings.With a $1.4 million budget gatheredmostly from private foundations,corporations and individual donors,DSNI has helped the communitytransform 20 acres of once-abandoned land into 156 units of affordable housing with parks, gardensand playgrounds. DSNI takes acomprehensive approach to community building. "It's not educationonly, housing only, safety only,"says Barros, shown here at theRalph Waldo Emerson ElementarySchool in Roxbury, where DSNI organized schoolyard improvements."Our philosophy is that you can'taddress these things in isolation."Current projects include a 9,000-square-foot urban, non-profitgreenhouse staffed by residentsand fund raising for a new $ll million community center.