People

Joe McNeely, founder and long-time president of the Development Training Institute, will leave the organization in June to pursue new opportunities. McNeely has also served as executive director of SECO/SDI in Baltimore, as director of HUD’s Office of Neighborhood Development and in a leadership role in numerous community development venues. He is the co-author of Community Building Coming of Age.

University of California-Santa Barbara has named Melvin L. Oliver dean of social sciences. Oliver had been vice president for asset building and community development at the Ford Foundation since 1996. An award-winning author and distinguished teacher and mentor, he designed and co-taught the first course in ethnic studies at UCLA, bringing undergraduates and ethnic studies scholars together to engage them in community service projects and research.

Cynthia "Mil" Duncan is returning to the University of New Hampshire as founding director of the Carsey Institute for Families and Communities. Widely recognized for her research on rural poverty, Duncan was a sociologist at UNH for 11 years before leaving to become director of the Ford Foundation’s Community and Resource Development Unit in 2000.

The board of directors of the National Network of Grantmakers selected Ron McKinley as executive director. McKinley was most recently the director of the Wilder Center for Communities at the Amherst Wilder Foundation in St. Paul, MN. He has been a leader in the philanthropic community for over 25 years, serving on the boards of the Funding Exchange, the Council on Foundations and the Minnesota Council on Foundations.

The Marguerite Casey Foundation appointed Chantel L. Walker as director of programs, in charge of the $30 million annual grantmaking program to foster leadership and advocacy in low-income communities. Walker has nearly 20 years of experience in philanthropy and community development, and most recently was with the Marin Community Foundation.

John M. Payne, professor of Law and Justice Frederick W. Hall Scholar at the School of Law-Newark, was named a Rutgers Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor. Payne is recognized for his pioneering work in establishing the legal basis for providing affordable housing to low- and moderate-income residents in New Jersey and nationally, and has been the key intellectual force and a leading lawyer in Mount Laurel cases.

Atlanta-based Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation welcomes Penelope McPhee as its new president. McPhee comes to the foundation from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, where she was vice president and chief program officer for 13 years. She serves on the board of the Council on Foundations and is a former board member of the Council for Southeastern Foundations. McPhee is replaced by Michael Maidenberg, Pulitzer Prize-winning publisher at the Grand Forks Herald in NC. He will direct $90 million in annual grants and oversee Knight’s Journalism Initiatives, Community Partners and National Venture Fund programs.

Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development has named Dorothy L. Lengyel as president. Lengyel helped create over 1,500 housing units in Seattle during her 14-year tenure as executive director of HomeSight, an organization she founded to promote community revitalization through homeownership strategies. Under her leadership, HomeSight implemented a $40 million urban redevelopment initiative, established an $8 million revolving loan fund to promote homeownership and helped more than 1,100 families buy homes.

The board of directors of Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City, Inc. appointed Sarah Gerecke as chief executive officer. Gerecke succeeds Francine Justa who stepped down after 18 years of service. Gerecke has devoted her career to New York’s affordable housing issues, including leadership in the areas of housing finance, real estate law, low-income housing program development and housing development and management.

The Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (NY) has launched a new community organizing grants program: the Initiative for Neighborhood and City-Wide Organizing (INCO). INCO provides grants, technical assistance and training to 15 community organizations to build their local organizing capacity and to promote a citywide affordable housing agenda. Those selected include the Abyssinian Development Corp., Asian Americans for Equality, Fifth Avenue Committee, Good Ole Lower East Side, Mothers on the Move and Pratt Area Community Council. www.anhd.org.

Southern Exposure won the 2003 George Polk Award for Magazine Reporting for "Banking on Misery." The article documented how Citigroup and other financial institutions draw a growing share of their profits from subprime home mortgages that charge exorbitant fees, among other questionable practices. Writer Michael Hudson interviewed dozens of consumers and former bank employees and analyzed thousands of loan documents. www.southernstudies.org.

The 2004 Chicago Neighborhood Development Award winners for outstanding achievement in neighborhood real estate development and community building are: Bethel New Life, for nonprofit neighborhood development group of the year; Bernard Place, for nonprofit neighborhood real estate project; North Town Village, for for-profit neighborhood real estate project; and North Side Community Federal Credit Union, for nonprofit community building organization. www.lisc-cnda.org.

Lakefront Supportive Housing in Chicago selected Helmut Jahn to be the lead architect of its new five-story, 100-unit supportive housing development. Lakefront’s vision is to provide well-designed, attractive housing for low-income people. Jahn has designed a modern glass and stainless steel structure that is energy efficient and ecologically sound. The development will house families displaced by the Cabrini-Green demolition and people facing homelessness. www.lakefrontsro.org.