The International Downtown Association (IDA) has recognized Zoongizi Ode and Persons Community Solutions (PCS) with the Downtown Achievement Pinnacle Award for the Community Safety Host Initiative.
Each year, IDA recognizes outstanding projects as winners of the Downtown Achievement Awards, which identify advances to urban centers by organizations worldwide. The industry’s highest recognition, the Pinnacle Award, represents the most inspiring innovations in urban place management. This year’s projects were awarded by a jury of IDA members in the following categories: leadership development; organizational management; economic development; marketing, communications and events; planning, design and infrastructure; policy and advocacy; and public space management and operations. The Community Safety Host Initiative won the Pinnacle Award in the Public Space Management and Operations category.
“This recognition belongs first and foremost to the Community Safety Hosts and the communities whose knowledge and experiences shaped this initiative,”
Said Mary Burton, Executive Director of Zoongizi Ode, and Arielle Dartigues, President and Co-Founder of Persons Community Solutions, in a joint statement.
“The CSHI began with a simple but powerful idea: the people most affected by barriers in our systems also hold invaluable knowledge about how those systems can work better. Together, Zoongizi Ode and PCS have turned that idea into a sustainable employment model that recognizes lived experience as expertise and demonstrates that safety can be built through relationships, dignity, and connection. Between August 2022 and September 2026, Community Safety Hosts worked 87,242 hours, made 89,444 new connections, provided 19,689 referrals to resources, and de-escalated 78% of 6,353 recorded escalated incidents without requiring police involvement. Receiving IDA’s highest honour shows that a model built here in Winnipeg, from the knowledge and leadership of our community, has something meaningful to offer cities far beyond it.”
The Community Safety Host Initiative (CSHI) is a community-led alternative to conventional security that creates safer, more welcoming access to public spaces and essential services. Co-developed by Zoongizi Ode and Persons Community Solutions, and in partnership with the many organizations that come to the table to make it possible, the initiative employs and invests in people with lived experience, equipping Community Safety Hosts with extensive training in trauma-informed care, harm reduction, crisis intervention, de-escalation, system navigation, and relationship-based safety.
Grounded in Wahkohtowin, a Cree word for kinship which denotes the interconnectedness of people and relationships, the CSHI shifts safety from an enforcement-first model toward one built on connection, dignity, and practical support. The initiative simultaneously addresses barriers to employment, creates meaningful career pathways, and helps communities build safer public spaces by recognizing lived experience as expertise.
“PCS and Zoongizi Ode’s innovative project received the IDA Pinnacle Award for setting the new standard for improving cities around the world,”
said David Downey, IDA President and CEO.
“The Community Safety Host Initiative has made an impact on its community and the people who live, work and play there, and is evidence of the continued commitment to champion livable, vital and thriving urban centers.”
Washington, DC-based IDA is the premier organization for urban place professionals who are shaping and activating dynamic city center districts. It convened this September in Toronto for Intersections: Where Districts, Disciplines & Ideas Converge, a three-day conference to discuss emerging trends in place management. Zoongizi Ode and PCS were recognized for their award-winning project during the Downtown Achievement Awards ceremony at the 72nd Annual Conference & Marketplace, September 1-3, 2026. IDA’s Annual Conference & Marketplace is the premier gathering for professional place managers and urban champions creating vibrant and healthy cities around the world. The conference features educational sessions, Master Talks (short keynotes from industry leaders), marketplace exhibitors and networking opportunities. For more information about the session and conference, please visit the event webpage.
IDA’s members have a proven track record of creating collaborative public-private partnerships to tackle weighty issues. Place management organizations affect significant change in every major metropolitan area throughout North America in an industry that is growing rapidly around the globe. More than 2,500 downtown management districts exist in cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Place management work touches every discipline of city building, including economic development, leadership, marketing, events, public space management, policy, planning and infrastructure.
Additional information on the 2026 Pinnacle award winners can be found online at downtown.org.
Persons Community Solutions (PCS) is a social enterprise that works alongside communities to build practical, sustainable solutions to complex social challenges. Rather than simply consulting, PCS co-designs and implements the training, operations, policies, and systems needed for programs to succeed, with the goal of transitioning them to community ownership.
Zoongizi Ode (ZO) is an Indigenous, women-led, community-rooted non-profit organization in Winnipeg’s North End that supports families and youth affected by complex systems, including the child welfare system. Grounded in the principles of Wahkohtowin and the strength of community relationships, ZO provides education, advocacy, and system navigation while working to strengthen families, support reunification, and advance community-led change.
About IDA
The International Downtown Association (IDA) is the premier organization for urban place professionals who are shaping and activating dynamic city center districts. Our members are city builders and downtown champions who bring urban centers to life, bridging the gap between the public and private sectors. We represent an industry of more than 2,500 place management organizations, employing 100,000 people throughout North America and growing rapidly around the world. Founded in 1954, IDA is a resource center for ideas and innovative best practices in urban place management. For more information, visit www.downtown.org.
