Jim and Patty Rouse, inspired by a community-based group in Washington, D.C., founded Enterprise in 1982 to see that all low-income people have the opportunity for fit and affordable housing and to move up and out of poverty.
(April 26, 1914-April 9, 1996)
Jim spent his adult life working with the American city - its problems and its opportunities--both as a developer and as a member of various public interest organizations.
He founded The Rouse Company, a for-profit developer based in Columbia, Md., and, for 40 years, was its CEO. Jim retired from The Rouse Company in 1979 and, in 1982, with his wife Patty, launched The Enterprise Foundation, now known as Enterprise.
He was a member of President Eisenhower's Task Force on Housing in 1953 and of President Reagan's Task Force on Private Sector Initiatives in 1982.
In 1987, he was chairman of the National Housing Task Force, which made proposals to Congress in March 1988 for a new housing program. The report formed the basis for comprehensive housing legislation signed into law by President Bush in November 1990.
Co-Founder, Vice President and Secretary
Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.
Patricia Rouse co-founded The Enterprise Foundation with her late husband, James Rouse, in 1982. She serves as vice president and secretary and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the organization (now Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.). She also serves as secretary and as a member of the Board of Directors of Enterprise Community Investment, Inc.
Patty is a member of the Founders Committee of World Times, Inc., publisher of The WorldPaper; is on the Board of Directors of Jubilee Housing, Inc. of Washington, D.C.; a member of the Board of the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society; a former member of the Board of Directors of the Health and Welfare Council, Inc., of Maryland (serving as vice president from 1981-1983); and a former member of the board of the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
In 1991, she was appointed by President Bush to serve on the Board of Directors of the Commission on National and Community Service. She also served on the National Civilian Community Corps Advisory Board from 1994 to 1997; as a Commissioner of the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority from 1969-1975; and served on the Boards of Directors of the National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing, the Columbia Forum and the Columbia Foundation in Columbia, Md.
Patty graduated Magna Cum Laude from Sweet Briar College in 1948 after spending her junior year at St. Andrews University in Scotland. She has done graduate work in Urban Studies at Old Dominion University and received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Old Dominion University in 1997.
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