Joan Straussman Brandon had been with NeighborWorks America staff for 25 years before becoming a private consultant in 2006. During those 25 years with NeighborWorks, Joan spent 7 with Field Operations and 18 with the Organizational Assessment Division. In Field Operations Joan was responsible for the development and/or expansion of several NeighborWorks organizations. She also provided technical assistance to organizations as well as training at various institutes and partnership events. For three years she worked exclusively on developing mutual housing associations. In the organizational assessment division, Joan managed organizational assessments of some of the network’s more complex organizations, and was involved in the development of the PROMPT review system. She also developed review tools for organizations involved with property ownership and management and worked closely with the Community Building and Organizing Initiative to develop tools based on the PROMPT model to assess community building and organizing activities. Joan was also responsible for more than 60 of the chartering reviews for new network affiliates, along with the mentoring of new staff and consultants. Since becoming a consultant, Joan has continued to do organizational assessments, coaching of staff, Board development, course development and training and proposal reviews. She is currently working with the Housing and Community Development Network of NJ as Interim Associate Director.

Prior to NeighborWorks America, Joan was Executive Director of a multi-service organization in Chelsea, MA. Fluent in Spanish, Joan was instrumental in developing services and programs for Chelsea’s growing Latino community. In her early professional years, Joan worked for organizations providing counseling to substance abusers.

Joan has a Bachelor’s Degree from Clark University and a Masters Degree in Social Work with a concentration in Planning and Community Organizing from Boston College. She has taken a multitude of courses on every aspect of community development at Harvard Extension School, NYU and NeighborWorks Training Institutes. Joan has also become a licensed real estate agent in the state of New Jersey.