The Solutions division of Enterprise Community Partners’ has named

Jacqueline Waggoner president. Jacqueline will be a critical leader in leveraging all of the Solutions division’s capabilities to drive the organization’s three major priorities of increasing housing supply, advancing racial equity and building resilience and upward mobility. The Solutions division operates 11 market offices across the country and delivers program, policy, advisory and capacity-building support at the national, state and local level.

Before assuming this position Jacqueline served as Enterprise’s vice president and Southern California market leader. Prior to joining Enterprise, she served as vice president of Wells Fargo’s Community Banking Real Estate Group.

Many of our members have expressed an interest in community service opportunities, and we heard you loud and clear! We are looking forward to embarking on a number of activities over the coming months, and welcome the membership to join in our first partnership with Bee Fabulous Moments, Inc. The mission of Bee Fabulous Moments is to provide services and resources to women and children impacted by domestic violence, by creating a fabulous moment that can offer encouragement, comfort and refuge. The organization is seeking personal protective equipment (PPE) for the anticipated second wave of COVID-19. These items will be donated to shelters and families impacted by domestic violence. Requested items include masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer. Will you join us in giving back?

Please contact Shelynda Brown at 404-375-6831 or sbbrown@enterprisecommunity.org to arrange drop off.

When the Washington Business Journal announced its HR Impact Award honorees, WCCD member Heather Hart was on the list! For the past seven years Heather has served as the the Director of Human Resources at the DC Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA).

Among the Agency’s 50 staff members Heather is known for her hands on approach and daily office visits. During her check-ins she assesses the needs of the staff. Heather learned that several staff members were grappling with student loan debt which was preventing them from contributing to their retirement fund, buying a home or establishing a college fund for their children. Her solution was to launch the CHOICE Education Finance program at DCHFA. The agency contributes toward an employee’s student loan or to a 529 College Savings plan.

The implementation of the program received the 2019 Management Innovation-HR award from the National Council of State Housing Agencies. The wellness program that Heather created at DCHFA was a finalist in the Ragan’s Employee Communications awards.

We are WCCD proud of you Heather!

Meet Doni Crawford, the co-author of the “The Black Burden of COVID-19” and “What Does COVID-19 Mean for the Survival of Black-Owned Businesses?“, both featured in a DC Fiscal Policy Institute (DCFPI) blog series on COVID-19’s impact on the District’s Black residents.

Since January 2019, Doni has been a policy analyst at DCFPI focusing on the areas of affordable housing and workforce development. DCFPI is a non-profit organization that promotes budget choices that address DC’s racial and economic inequities through independent research and policy. She is passionate about amplifying and addressing the ways in which racist public policies and private actions created residential segregation and socioeconomic conditions in many Black communities today. In addition to the previously mentioned blog posts, Doni has co-authored at DCFPI, Black Workers Matter: How the District’s History of Exploitation & Discrimination Continues to Harm Black Workers.

Prior to joining DCFPI, Doni worked at Neighborhood Allies where she co-led the implementation of All-In Pittsburgh, a collaborative regional strategy to achieve equitable development by ensuring that everyone participates in and benefits from the region’s economic transformation.

In March, Kathy J. Guillaume-Delemar, joined the senior team at the Center for Community Progress (Community Progress) as its new Director of National Partnerships.

Kathy’s track record as a strategic advisor in the Washington region includes shaping the major gifts pipeline at Miriam’s Kitchen and growing the organizational impact of Jubilee Housing by leading a three-year, $60 million capital campaign that helped revitalize affordable housing for more than 700 individuals, launching neighborhood youth services initiatives, and creating a Returning Citizens Transitional Housing program.

In addition to her work in the Greater Washington, DC metro area, Kathy has led the development of partnerships with local and federal governments, the Federal Home Loan Banks, Enterprise Community Partners, LISC, and dozens of other influential community development stakeholders.

Today, Guillaume-Delemar’s leads fundraising and partnership development for the Center for Community Progress and the Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference, which connects more than 1,400 grassroots leaders and revitalization professionals nationwide.

Congratulations Kathy!

The new year brought new opportunities for one of our WCCD members this year. Halley Henry, previously Communications and Fundraising Manager at the National Housing Trust, started a new role at the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing & Economic Development in January 2020 as Director of Advocacy and Communications. In her new role, Halley develops, manages and executes CNHED’s advocacy and communications strategies, promoting the work of the organization, its members, and the broader economic community development field in the District. Previously working in the national housing landscape, Halley now collaborates with local groups and residents to promote and develop equitable communities across DC.

“I’m overjoyed to now have the opportunity to work on housing and economic development issues locally,” she says. “You can truly see the impact of your work on the local level and I a deeper connection to the communities that CNHED serves. These are my neighbors! And I am incredibly excited to now have some overlap between my personal and professional life.”

As Halley settles into her new role, she’d love to connect with other WCCD members on the local landscape. Feel free to reach out via hhenry@cnhed.org.

Congrats are in order! WCCD Member L. Tia Blount is featured in the February 2020 issue of Old Town Crier. The feature titled, “Tap Your Assets,” chronicles Blount’s journey of overcoming obstacles and pursuing her passion. Blount is the Founder & Principal of Saving Solutions, a minority, woman-owned marketing and business solutions firm specializing in saving clients time and money on powerful, high-impact business solutions. An excerpt from the article reads:

“When I grow up, I want to be visible. Strange coming from a five-year-old girl. Typically, at that age, thoughts turn to becoming a doctor, lawyer or even a princess. I was born in the late 70s and raised by a single parent in a low-income household in southeast Washington, DC. During those days – many fell victim to the crack cocaine epidemic in the District- either becoming users or dealers, an inevitable fate that didn’t appear to be open to revision, and where both sides were met with disastrous ends…With what little resources I had at my disposal, I eventually learned to tap into two of my earliest known ASSets: imagination and writing. Armed with a pen, paper and vivid imagination and visualization – I would sit up for hours writing and construction my future. I literally wrote my way out of this mental prison, out of my environment, into college and into a career in global health communications.”

You can read the full story here.

Jodie Harris was recently appointed Director of the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund with the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Harris joined Treasury in 2007 as an associate program manager with the CDFI Fund and later served as senior advisor to the director. During her time with Treasury, she has managed grant programs and developed legislative and policy proposals for a wide range of issues with a focus on access to capital, community development banking and financial inclusion. Her most recent position at Treasury was Director of Small Business, Community Development and Affordable Housing Policy.

Harris has worked in both the public and private sectors for over 25 years. Following her start as a commercial real estate and community development credit analyst, she served as president of a small non-profit consulting firm providing technical assistance and education to small businesses and entrepreneurs. She spent several years in the Strategy and Business Architecture division of Accenture, LLC, working with a range of clients including financial institutions, nonprofits and technology companies. She has extensive experience in policy research and worked as a policy analyst with New York University’s Institute for Education and Social Policy, and with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where she focused on low-income food programs.

She originally hails from Philadelphia and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland. She also holds both a MBA and MPA from New York University. Congratulations, Jodie!