For 40 years, we at Enterprise Community Partners have worked in thousands of communities with thousands of partners.

That’s because we understand that the most innovative solutions come from the partners who are closest to the problem, especially when it comes to solving our nation’s affordable housing crisis.

But as a national organization, how do we ensure that our work is meeting the need and providing effective solutions? How do we know that we’re supporting communities in the best way possible? How do we make sure that our quest for more affordable housing, racial equity, upward mobility and resilience reflects the needs and desires of the people we serve?

This year, we’re relaunching the Enterprise Community Leadership Council to answer those critical questions. While previous iterations of this group have existed in our past, we’ve reimagining this group to include new and seasoned nonprofit affordable housing leaders, change-makers, advocates and partners from across the country.

This body is grounded in the vision of our founder, Jim Rouse, who believed that Enterprise would only be effective if community leaders guided us, gave us feedback, challenged us, and pushed us to do more and do it better.

As Jim said in a 1963 speech:

We can’t plan effectively for the future growth of American communities unless we start at the beginning – and that beginning is people.

We see this as a give and take. We’re asking this diverse group of leaders to help advise us as we enter our fifth decade of operations, but also to help guide our entire industry. After all, Enterprise is a market leader and market mover. Members of the Council will help us drive change for residents, for entire communities, and for the affordable housing system nationwide.

In return, we provide an engaging and transformative peer-to-peer forum, where Council members have the opportunity to shape and devise innovative policies, practices and capital that will steer the affordable housing and community development landscape for decades to come. assignment.

We’re proud to name the following individuals as part of this newly-energized Enterprise Community Leadership Council.

Ismael Guerrero, ECLC Chair
President and CEO, Mercy Housing
Denver, Colorado

Oji Alexander
Executive Director, Home by Hand
New Orleans, Louisiana

Alex Castro
President and CEO, PathStone Corporation
Rochester, New York

Brandon Dennison
Founder and CEO, Coalfield Development
Huntington, West Virginia

Taiisa Kelly
CEO, Monarch Housing Associates
Cranford, New Jersey

Christine Madigan
Interim President of Community Development, Enterprise Community Partners
Baltimore, Maryland

Daniel Malone
Executive Director, DESC
Seattle, Washington

Gavin McGuire
Executive Director, Grove Park Foundation
Atlanta, Georgia

Shannon Nazworth
President and CEO, Ability Housing
Jacksonville, Florida

Kevin Nowak
Executive Director,/blog/rooted-community-announcing-rejuvenated-enterprise-community-leadership-councilCHN Housing Partners
Cleveland, Ohio

Carmen Romero
CEO and President, Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing
Arlington, Virginia

Sean Spear
President and CEO, Community HousingWorks
San Diego, California

Yolanda Winstead
President and CEO, DHIC
Raleigh, North Carolina

Thomas Yu
Executive Director, Asian Americans for Equality
New York City, New York