About

Why Rhize exists

Rhize exists to help places support a fuller, more connected everyday life. We want people to feel welcome in the places they share, have reasons to spend time together, and find opportunities close enough to become part of their lives.

Our thinking draws from living systems, where health depends on diversity and the relationships that sustain it. We’re interested in how a place makes room for people to encounter one another, feel at ease, and become more open to experiences beyond their own. Those possibilities depend on the conditions we cultivate over time, including how we care for the land. A place’s future depends on its capacity to sustain the life within it and replenish what supports it.

Through our work, we help communities and those investing in them understand what a place needs and make thoughtful choices about its future. We want the changes made today to leave a place more capable of supporting life, with more opportunity for people to participate in its care and share in what it becomes.

A group gathered outdoors in a neighborhood, listening together beside a sidewalk and nearby homes.

Meet Rhize

We’ve run small businesses, led business associations, managed commercial corridors, and worked directly in commercial real estate and development. Our backgrounds in research, policy, and community engagement help us connect that firsthand experience to the wider forces shaping a place. We bring an understanding of both what a community hopes to achieve and the daily work of getting there.

Hannah Greening, Founder and Principal of Rhize Urban Strategy, smiling in a sunlit room.

  • Founder & Principal

    Hannah’s work begins with close attention to how a place functions and what could help it become healthier. She leads Rhize’s urban strategy practice, bringing research and systems thinking into the practical decisions that shape neighborhoods and commercial districts.

    Her experience spans commercial property, adaptive reuse, and development strategy. As the founder and managing broker of Fancy Real Estate, she has worked directly with businesses, property owners, and developers to find locations, negotiate agreements, and put buildings to use. That experience informs her understanding of what makes an idea workable and what it takes to carry it through.

    Hannah serves as Vice President of the Heartside Business Association and participates in Grand Rapids’ ReZoneGR Technical Advisory Committee. She is a graduate of Leadership Grand Rapids and has been recognized among Crain’s Grand Rapids Business’s 200 Most Influential Business Leaders.

    She writes about cities and the relationships that sustain them. At home on her hobby farm, the Holler, she follows many of the same questions through a different landscape.

A woman with short curly black hair wearing a bright yellow dress and large colorful earrings standing outdoors on a sidewalk, smiling, with trees and a pink bus in the background.

  • Business Retention & Entrepreneurship Support

    Danielle brings more than 20 years of experience in communication, partnership development, and community strategy. As a former Corridor Manager with the City of Grand Rapids, she has worked with the local policy and neighborhood conditions that shape opportunities for small businesses.

    At Rhize, she contributes that experience to community engagement and corridor strategy, helping people with different responsibilities understand one another’s priorities and work toward a shared direction.

    Outside of work, Danielle volunteers with the Women’s Resource Center and enjoys live music, hosting friends, and a good crime drama.

A woman smiling while sitting at a table outdoors with two glasses of champagne and a potted sunflower plant in the background.

  • Corridor Research & Development Feasibility

    Zoë supports Rhize’s urban strategy and district development work through research, analysis, and coordination. She helps organize information and maintain communication as projects move forward.

    Born and raised in Muskegon, she brings familiarity with West Michigan’s communities and an interest in how local culture and economic conditions shape a place. Her work combines careful follow-through with attention to the people involved.

    Outside of work, Zoë enjoys exploring new places, local car culture, and spending time with friends.

Dorelle Brock, Experience Design & Implementation at Rhize, smiling while seated on a bench.

  • District Stewardship & Community Partnerships

    Matthew brings a background in anthropology and firsthand experience running a small business and leading a commercial district organization. As President of a downtown business association and owner of an independent art gallery, he understands the daily work of sustaining a place’s cultural and commercial life.

    At Rhize, he focuses on district stewardship and collaboration. His experience helps inform how local businesses and organizations coordinate their efforts, build the capacity to act, and maintain that work over time.

  • Experience Design & Implementation

    Dorelle Brock is an artist, creative strategist, and experience designer who creates opportunities for discovery, play, and connection. His work includes interactive art, youth workshops, museum activities, and Peace It Together, a downtown art scavenger hunt. At Rhize, he designs experiences that encourage people to explore, connect destinations, and spend time along a corridor, then develops practical steps for bringing those experiences to life.