Place Management Professionals
The Urban Partnership team collaborates with a collective of established place management professionals based in Washington, D.C. The Urban Partnership’s Rich Bradley has worked with Natalie Avery and Rachel Davis on a variety of unique projects, from BID formation efforts to strategic planning and brand implementation. With a combined 60 years of experience in the industry, this team has improved the operations, brand and visibility of dozens of organizations around the DC region, including the Dupont Circle BID, the MidCity BID Planning Committee, the Congress Heights Partnership, the Crystal City BID and more. The innovative approach taken by this group is inclusive, compassionate and creative. Operating under its parent organization the Urban Partnership LLC, the group is a registered local business in the District of Columbia.
Natalie Avery
Natalie Avery, president of The Javera Group, has devoted her career to fostering stronger, more equitable, connected and vibrant urban neighborhoods. A Washington, D.C., native with deep roots in the city’s music and arts scenes, she brings understanding and passion to the importance of people and place. Currently also the Director of the DC Business Improvement District Council, the association of Washington, DC’s 11 BIDs, Natalie works with BIDs on a range of operational and policy issues.
She spent the early part of her career working in policy, studying the impact of globalization on workers and the environment in the global south. After completing a master’s degree in international relations, she turned her attention to her own city and neighborhood. In 1997, she founded the Youth Action Research Group, a groundbreaking program for high school students to research, write about and advocate around urban development issues in their DC neighborhoods. From 2008-2010, she ran the MidCity Business Association, organizing a successful marketing and event strategy that helped bring new customers to MidCity’s many attractions.
In addition to serving as the Director of the DC BID Council, she has provided consulting services to a range of business, community and youth development clients, including the DowntownDC BID, the Golden Triangle BID, the Urban Institute, the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region and the Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Rachel Davis
Rachel L. Davis is a marketing and communications strategist who specializes in placemaking and city building. She has spent her 15-year career focused on the creation, activation and branding of great places, and now continues that work as the founding principal of Walnut Street Creative. She works with commercial real estate companies, nonprofits and business improvement districts around the DC region. Recent clients have included Equity Residential, Forest City Washington, Dupont Circle BID and Adams Morgan Partnership; in 2018, she managed three rebranding efforts simultaneously. Her work at Walnut Street Creative is always focused on promoting and branding places, ranging from social media strategy to brand implementation, from messaging to media outreach. With a background in journalism, Rachel tells stories using words, photography, unique events and visual identity. She has organized, managed and promoted hundreds of events, from pop-up retail activations to major festivals and conferences.
Prior to her work as Walnut Street Creative, she served as marketing director at the International Downtown Association, where she oversaw a complete organizational rebranding, resulting in significant new collateral and narratives for growing place management industry. She previously spent six years at the NoMa Business Improvement District and NoMa Parks Foundation, helping transform the neighborhood from vacant lots to a fun, happening place with a recognizable brand. She formerly served on the boards of Mt. Pleasant Main Street and the Petworth Community Market, and has been renovating a hundred-year-old rowhouse for the last eight years. Rachel has a bachelor’s degree in journalism, with minors in English and music, from the University of Georgia.