Achieving Excellence program graduates

The Fannie Mae Foundation was one of the initial private-sector supporters of NeighborWorks® America programs and initiatives. The Foundation has been a partner with NeighborWorks since 1992 when it supported the National Home Ownership Initiative, a pilot project in 20 cities to increase homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income people.

The project was the beginning of what we now know as the NeighborWorks Campaign for Home Ownership. The Campaign, with support from the Fannie Mae Foundation and other partners, has come a long way since then. Its current membership of 160 NeighborWorks organizations has helped more than 100,000 families purchase homes. Since that first partnership, the Fannie Mae Foundation has provided $1.7 million in support to NeighborWorks America.

Recently, the Fannie Mae Foundation announced its support for Achieving Excellence in Community Development, an organizational investment program designed for seasoned executive directors. The Achieving Excellence program helps executive directors focus on their organizations’ performance and efficiency, which results in more effective decision-making and accountability in organizational performance. Upon completion, graduates have a clearer understanding of their leadership role in organizational change. Graduates are also better prepared to address organizational challenges and have adopted performance-based approaches for themselves and their organizations. To date, 80 community development professionals have successfully graduated from the program.

Cheryl Fitzgerald, managing director of national initiatives at the Foundation, explained why partnering with NeighborWorks America is important. “The Fannie Mae Foundation has a longstanding relationship with NeighborWorks America and a lot of great outcomes have resulted from our partnerships. In particular, we are very interested in supporting the Achieving Excellence program because it fits into our strategy of assisting people with lower incomes. It’s targeted to help organizations—and the industry—become more effective and achieve excellence in the work we do.”

Through the Foundation’s Alliance, Fitzgerald has already worked with five executive directors who have been through the Achieving Excellence training. “The results are just outstanding,” she said.

 

 

 

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