Emmanuel Pratt, recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Grant in 2019, is an urban designer whose work redefines community development through models of resident-driven regeneration. As co-founder and executive director of the Sweet Water Foundation (SWF), a nonprofit based on Chicago’s South Side, Pratt leads projects that transform vacant land and abandoned buildings into productive farms, educational spaces, and community hubs. His practice weaves together architecture, art, urban agriculture, and social justice, cultivating ecosystems of care that address the intertwined challenges of disinvestment, displacement, and inequity. Under his leadership, SWF has become internationally recognized as a model for grassroots urban revitalization, demonstrating how the cultivation of social, environmental, and economic resources can generate resilient, self-sustaining neighborhoods.