People

The Cleveland Plain Dealer named Bill Faith the Ohioan of the Year for 2003. Faith is the executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio and the chair of the board of directors of NLIHC. Faith’s 25 years of service and advocacy for those who are homeless and in need of affordable housing in Ohio culminated in a huge victory last year when the state legislature approved an annual $50 million appropriation for the Ohio Housing Trust Fund.

The National Association of Housing Cooperatives named tenant co-op organizer Andrew Reicher as the 2003 Jerry Voorhis Award recipient. Reicher is the executive director of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, where he has served for nearly 25 years. His work in affordable housing and community development in New York City has helped improve the lives of many low-income New Yorkers.

Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation’s board of directors selected Kenneth D. Wade as its new executive director. Wade will serve as the chief executive, in charge of the corporation’s grants programs and training activities in support of the national NeighborWorks® network. He joined Neighborhood Reinvestment in 1990, serving five years as director of National Programs, Initiatives and Research. He succeeds Ellen Lazar who is now senior vice president of Housing and Community Initiatives with the Fannie Mae Foundation.

Peggy M. Shepard, executive director of West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT), was one of seven recipients of the Annual Heinz Awards, which honor distinguished Americans who are a source of human inspiration. Shepard is known for her work in improving the quality of life in communities of color and for combating environmental racism. She co-founded WE ACT in 1988.

Monica Steigerwald ended her three-year tenure as program manager of OMG Center for Collaborative Learning to accept the role of director of development at Mastery Charter High School in Philadelphia.

Richard Syron was appointed chief executive of Freddie Mac Corporation, succeeding Gregory J. Parseghian. Syron was most recently chairman and chief executive officer of Thermo Electron Corporation. He has also served as chairman and chief executive officer of the American Stock Exchange, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and president of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston. He was the assistant to then-Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Treasury.

Lisa-Nicolle Grist has been named a winter 2004 Fannie Mae Foundation Fellow. Grist is CEO of Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN), Inc., an organization dedicated to enabling low- and moderate-income Brooklyn residents to build assets for their families and communities by securing, improving, and owning their homes and businesses. She has over 10 years of community development experience in government, foundation and nonprofit settings in New York City and Nairobi, Kenya. She serves on the board of directors for Neighborhood and Housing Development.

The MacArthur Foundation has awarded more than $31 million in grants and loans to 27 nonprofit organizations through its Windows of Opportunity: Preserving Affordable Rental Housing initiative. Funding categories are identified as preservation leaders, preservation lenders, preservation policy and research as well as other research on rental housing. The awards are part of the foundation’s $50 million commitment to help preserve the affordable rental housing stock in the U.S. www.macfound.org.

Longfellow Community Council (LCC) developed a set of criteria to identify properties in its neighborhood that are at risk of lead exposure and then worked with Minneapolis Neighborhood Information Systems (MNIS) to map the at-risk areas and look at patterns of risk in the Longfellow community. LCC is now able to target outreach and educational efforts to inform residents about the dangers of lead exposure in children and the warning signs of lead poisoning. MNIS, a project which was developed by a University of Minneapolis student, has forged a partnership with the city of Minneapolis and received a multi-year grant from the Department of Commerce to continue its work. www.liscnet.org.

The National Affordable Housing Management Association announced the recipients of its 2003 Communities of Quality awards. For Outstanding Turnaround of a Troubled Property, First Cumberland Properties Inc., Brentwood, TN; for Exemplary Development for the Elderly or Disabled, Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly, Inc., Brighton, MA and PRD Management Inc., Merchantville, NJ; for Exemplary Family Development, Corcoran Management Company, Braintree, MA. www.nahma.org.

The National Neighborhood Coalition selected Bill Gates Sr. and Chuck Collins as the recipients of its 2004 Making a Difference Awards for their leadership on responsible wealth issues. Gates and Collins are spearheading a national network of businesspeople, investors and affluent Americans who are concerned about deepening economic inequality and are working for widespread prosperity. www.neighborhoodcoalition.org.

Royal Roads University, in Victoria, BC, is designing a new graduate program in community economic development, MA-CED. The program will provide advanced educational opportunities to community organizers, activists, rural and urban planners, CDC board members and other community volunteers and affordable housing developers. www.royalroads.ca (under For Learners, Future Programs).