Kathy
Del Beccaro
Urban planner, researcher, and consultant committed to preserving and strengthening small business economies and cultural spaces.
I've worked with over two dozen public, non-profit, and philanthropic clients to execute place-based research and develop new models for community-based real estate projects, investments, and programs that prioritize economic mobility, racial equity planning, and cultural empowerment. My projects occur at the ecosystem-level and consider the needs, challenges, and power of the many stakeholders involved in a place or sector.
In 2023, while I was consulting for Rockaway Film Festival to identify a new cinema space and build organizational capacity, we came across an unexpected opportunity to transform a vacant civic asset into a large-scale, multi-sector community hub and resilience center. In 2024 until 2026, I stepped in as RFF’s first Managing Director to develop that project, launch a full-time non-profit, and scale its operations to match its future scope. This first-hand experience in non-profit leadership and community anchor development has deeply impacted my hands-on, flexible approach with clients pursuing similar projects.
I have given guest lectures at the Yale School of Management Inclusive Economic Development Lab and the Flatbush Central Small Business Academy. In 2025, I served on a funding panel for the NYC DCLA Cultural Development Fund.
The keystone of all my work is the small business economy. By small business, I mean independently owned and governed small enterprises, non-profits, coalitions, and cooperatives, including freelancers, artists, solopreneurs, and informal groups. Small businesses continue to shape* the U.S. economy and workforce across industries. They show up in brick-and-mortar locations, transient spaces, and on the internet, where preserving connection between small businesses and customers is as challenging and crucial as it is in our real estate markets.
My belief in better models for economies, cities, and communities stems from my supreme faith in small players. Small businesses and their workers bring value to my life every day, and I’m dedicated to doing what I can to help them preserve autonomy while building collective power.
*In the U.S., 99.9% of businesses are small (employing less than 200 people). Those small businesses employ 46% of the American workforce and make up 44% of GDP. My research has demonstrated that small business owners have distinct mindsets, priorities, and behaviors as employers, and are much more likely to adopt employer practices that lead to job quality and economic mobility for their workers.