Keynote Speaker: Scott Kratz

Meet Scott Kratz

Scott Kratz is the President and CEO of Building Bridges Across the River, a Ward 8 based non-profit with five signature projects designed to provide equitable access to health, arts and economic opportunity. These projects include: the Town Hall Education Arts and Recreation Campus (THEARC); Building Bridges Farms; Skyland Workforce Center; THEARC Theater; and the 11th Street Bridge Park. These programs strive to reduce economic and social barriers to build a more prosperous and just East of the River community.

Scott is the Founding Director of the 11th Street Bridge Park and for the last twelve years has partnered with the Washington DC city government to transform an old freeway bridge into a park above the Anacostia River. As the old 11th Street Bridges that connect Capitol Hill with communities east of the river reached the end of their lifespan, Scott is working with local stakeholders to use the base of one of the bridges to create a one of a kind civic space supporting active recreation, environmental education and the arts. Scott leads the team that is designing, building and one day operating the park. Beyond the park’s physical construction, he has led the effort to ensure long term residents can stay and thrive in place through a nationally recognized Community Preservation Plan that includes affordable housing, workforce training, preservation of Black owned small businesses, arts / culture and health / wellness strategies.

Scott lives a few blocks away from the Bridge Park site in Capitol Hill and has called Washington DC his home for the last 19+ years. He graduated with a history degree from Pomona College in Southern California and has worked in the education field for twenty+ years. He began his career teaching at Kidspace, a children’s museum in Pasadena, California and later as the Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of the American West at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles. While at the Autry, he supervised a staff that planned and implemented programs including film, music, festivals, family programs, lecture series, academic symposia and Native theater. He moved to Washington DC to become the Vice President for Education at the National Building Museum. Scott is honored to serve on the board of the Anacostia Coordinating Council and the Anacostia Business Improvement District.

Scott speaks regularly about the 11th Street Bridge Park and community preservation strategies. He has presented at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and Joint Center for Housing, Catholic University, National Building Museum, Greater Washington Board of Trade, City Lab, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and at venues in Milan, Torino, San Jose, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and was selected to participate in the 2026 SXSW Festival. He has published Op Eds in the Washington Post, Crain’s Detroit Business, Smart Cities and has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Business Journal, Fast Company and Washingtonian Magazine.