Board service often begins with purpose. But purpose alone is not enough to lead effectively.

For many leaders across the NeighborWorks® network, governance starts with a desire to serve and evolves into something more intentional, more strategic and more impactful. That shift is at the center of the NeighborWorks America Excellence in Governance Academy, a board leadership and governance certification program designed specifically for community development nonprofits.

NeighborWorks® America honored the legacy of three Midwest network organizations Monday night during a reception that capped off the first full day of the NeighborWorks Training Institute. The organizations, Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago, Hispanic Housing Development Corp., and South Bend Heritage, were celebrating 50 years of impact in the greater Chicago area.

From all across the country, affordable housing and community development practitioners convened at the NeighborWorks® Training Institute (NTI) in Chicago, Illinois, this week to learn, to grow and to help build solutions to an affordable housing crisis that continues to put homes, both rented and owned, out of reach. The training institute attracted well over 1,000 participants, though some were slowed by an East Coast snowstorm that landed just as the institute began. 

Graduates of a NeighborWorks® America program are starting the year with new skills and determination.

The graduates, all from the Northeast Region, were part of a nine-month Strong Leaders Program for Middle Managers. The program, funded with generous support from the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York, focuses on the long-term professional growth of middle managers.

Students in the program found not only targeted training but a group of peers who will support each other long after the end of the program. 

Before she began working as deputy director of Lakota Funds, Ellen White Thunder had built a background in construction. She was certified as a residential building inspector. She was a certified pipelayer. She had her certification in plumbing inspection. “I love everything about construction,” she explains. And she knew that knowledge in construction would be needed on Pine Ridge and other reservations in South Dakota, where there was not just a shortage of homes, but a shortage of the people who could build them and make sure they were safe.
Housing counselors often see people at the best of times – on the verge of fulfilling a dream – but also see people at their most vulnerable times and everywhere in between. “It’s taxing work,” says Ann DiPetta, who has worked in the affordable housing and community development field for over 20 years. “It’s demanding. It can be emotionally difficult. And it’s important to take care of yourself so you don’t burn out.”
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