NACEDA Summit Advances Strategies for Community Prosperity  


Dr. Bambie Hayes-Brown of Georgia Advancing Communities Together welcomes summit participants to Atlanta.

On October 23-25, more than 200 community development association professionals and partners from across the nation convened in Atlanta, Georgia for the NACEDA Summit. All session materials are now available on the summit website, including presentations on the EPA environmental and climate justice grant program opportunities, NACEDA’s Grounding Values Study, capacity-building programs, peer-learning for associations, and more.

Special thanks to Georgia Advancing Communities Together for co-hosting the summit and to all of the summit sponsors for partnering to strengthen the community development field. 

National Census Survey Results Released at NACEDA Summit 

(Left to right) Corianne Scally, PhD of the Urban Institute, Kathy Flanagan Payton of Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment Corporation, Marla Bilonick of the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders, and Monica Evans of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

NACEDA released the results of the Sixth Census of Community-Based Development Organizations at the Summit. This is the first national census characterizing our field since 2005. A panel discussion at the summit featured the census report’s co-author Dr. Corianne Scally of the Urban Institute along with other field experts listed in the photo caption above.

The panelists provided insights from the census report about how the community economic development field sits at the nexus of people, place, investment, and equity. Between 2019 and 2021, community-based development organizations distributed more than $3.5 billion annually through community lending and financial assistance and produced more than 500,000 housing units and 3,500 commercial and community facilities.

Ready to see the results for yourself? Visit the NACEDA Grounding Values Webpage to access the report, data, and factsheets. 

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Member News

Sharon Legenza Received National Leadership Award 


Sharon Legenza of Housing Action Illinois was congratulated on her award by (left to right)
Frank Woodruff of NACEDA, Bernie Mazyck of the South Carolina Association for Community Economic Development, Paige Carlson-Heim of TD Bank, and Steve Glaude of the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing & Economic Development.

Sharon Legenza received the 2023 Diane Sterner Award for Community Development Association Leadership at the NACEDA Summit. As executive director of Housing Action Illinois, she has spent 15 years fighting homelessness and promoting equity within the community development field. The award was presented by Paige Carlson-Heim, Director of Office of Charitable and Community Giving at TD Bank and a NACEDA board member. She noted that Legenza has led Housing Action Illinois to become a HUD Housing Counseling Intermediary with 35 affiliate housing counseling agencies, start an AmeriCorps network that will be placing 42 members around the state this year, and tackle a variety of special projects including a funder and community-based organization matchmaking initiative and Census 2020 educational outreach.

When accepting the award, Legenza stated, “I’m honored and humbled to receive this award because it comes from peers throughout the nation – all of whom understand the challenges and joys of working to advance equity and resilient communities. No one of us does this work alone, so this recognition from my colleagues is especially appreciated.” Read the press release.

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Federal News

2023 Community Economic Development Grant Recipients Announced

The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Community Services announced $16.7 million in new grant awards to support 39 Community Economic Development (CED) projects. The CED program funds local organizations to start and build businesses in low-income communities in order to create long-term, high-quality jobs plus critical wraparound support services such as childcare, transportation, and financial literacy. The 2023 grant recipients will stimulate the creation of more than 575 new full-time jobs with sustainable wages for individuals living in low-income communities in 26 states.

NACEDA has been working with a cohort of members to encourage local community development corporations in under-represented states to apply for CED grants. In addition to the traditional annual CED grants, two opportunities focusing on planning and energy communities were announced in 2023. NACEDA members in New Jersey, Louisiana, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Texas have been working with one another to promote these funding resources to community development corporations in their respective states. In addition, NACEDA collaborated with the National Association of Latino Community Asset Builders to educate over 150 participants in January about these CED grant programs and help them prepare to apply for grants. As a result of NACEDA and our members’ efforts, 14 traditional CED, energy communities, and planning grants were awarded in our targeted states.

New CRA Regulation: More Collaboration & Opportunities

Federal regulators recently unveiled a new Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rule on October 24, following years of advocacy by NACEDA and our members. Prior to the October announcement, the most recent formal action by regulators was a joint Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) and public comment opportunity in the Summer of 2022. Read NACEDA’s response to the 2022 NPR. NACEDA’s hope is that the final rule will offer increased collaboration and impact opportunities for community-based development organizations. For complete details, see the full CRA final rule document and explore the rule's potential for community development. Stay tuned for upcoming learning opportunities hosted by NACEDA for in-depth insights on the CRA final rule. Experts will answer your questions to help your community benefit from these changes.

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Funding & Job Opportunities