At NeighborWorks® America, we believe that strong communities start with strong leaders. Not leadership in theory, but leadership in practice. The kind that shows up in neighborhoods, in housing developments and in the day-to-day decisions that shape people’s lives. For nearly 50 years, NeighborWorks America, a congressionally chartered nonprofit corporation, has invested in the people behind the work, equipping housing and community development professionals, board leaders and community leaders with the skills they need to deliver results and strengthen communities across the country.
The 2026 NeighborWorks Training Institute in Miami Beach builds on that legacy. This year’s theme, Waves of Leadership, reflects how impact moves through our network. It builds over time. It strengthens with each new skill learned and applied. It carries forward through the professionals who return to their communities ready to do more, reach more and deliver more.
Leadership in this field is not static. It is built through continuous learning, real-world application and connection to others doing the work. At NeighborWorks America, we develop leaders in multiple ways. Through faculty-led courses that strengthen technical expertise in housing counseling, real estate development and organizational management. Through leadership programs like Achieving Excellence and Strong Leaders that prepare practitioners to guide organizations with clarity and purpose. Through peer exchange that allows professionals to learn from one another and bring new ideas back to their communities. And through the NeighborWorks network itself, where collaboration turns individual knowledge into collective impact.
Each of these investments has a clear outcome.
Stronger organizations. Better-served residents. More resilient communities.
This is not abstract learning. It is capacity that produces results. Every professional who participates in the NeighborWorks Training Institute returns with tools and strategies that can be applied immediately. That is how we move from training to impact.
“NeighborWorks has learned over decades the importance of strengthening the full chain of leaders needed for community development organizations to deliver effective results, from resident and board leaders to program and executive leaders,” said Brooke Finn, senior vice president for Evaluation, Leadership and Peer Learning. “We’ve seen the power of combining skill-building with practical application and peer-learning to enable leaders at all levels to drive positive change and deliver increased scale, scope and impact.”
NeighborWorks has seen this model work across nearly five decades. Leaders trained through national nonprofit have gone on to expand access to affordable homes, strengthen financial capability for families and build systems that support long-term community stability. That impact continues to grow with each new wave of professionals who step into this work. They’ve gone back to their communities to develop new programs, to improve staff retention, to rethink and rebuild.
Like B. Ken Eakes, who went through the Achieving Excellence Program with a goal of diversifying income and funding streams for Military Warrior. Or Tanya Westmoreland, who went through the Excellence in Governance Program to become a more effective board leader at NeighborWorks Green Bay. Or like the NTI participant who made a career change to become a HUD-certified housing counselor. “I was totally immersed with the wealth of knowledge that I was able to gain and I didn't want to training to stop,” she said. NeighborWorks training helped her receive two promotions in a 3-4 year timespan. Her hope is to attend the August NTI to get the skills she needs to assist her organization in expanding financial literacy programing.
The NeighborWorks Training Institute is the largest professional development event of its kind, bringing together professionals committed to improving housing outcomes and strengthening communities. Participants engage in practical, skills-based learning and build relationships that extend far beyond the event itself. Those connections become partnerships, and those partnerships accelerate impact across communities and regions.
The housing landscape is evolving. Affordability pressures persist. The need for skilled, adaptable leaders continues to grow. Meeting this moment requires more than resources. It requires people who are prepared to lead with clarity, coordination and purpose.
That is what the NeighborWorks Training Institute delivers.
Miami Beach provides the setting, but the work is the focus. The energy of the city reflects the forward momentum of the field. But the mission remains grounded in what matters most: equipping professionals with the skills they need to create real outcomes in the communities they serve.
Registration for NTI Miami Beach is now open. Join professionals from across the country for a week of intensive learning, connection and growth. Explore courses, build your expertise and be part of a network that is shaping the future of housing and community development.
Register now and take your place in the work that is moving communities forward.
The Next Wave of Leaders starts here.
