People

The Corporation for Supportive Housing appointed Deborah DeSantis as its new president and chief executive officer. Since 2003, De Santis has led CSH’s New Jersey program. She previously served as chief operating officer and then as executive director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency and as deputy commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. She replaces Carla Javits, who stepped down to become president of a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization.

Stockton Williams, senior vice president for external affairs for Enterprise Community Partners, was chosen to be the managing director of the Enterprise Terwilliger Fund, a new endeavor created to generate more than $130 million to support development of workforce housing and create 2,000 affordable homes around the country annually. Enterprise trustee Ron Terwilliger gave $5 million to create the fund.

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon named Jacqueline Cornish to lead the city’s new Neighborhood Investment Division, which was created to help communities implement neighborhood plans and increase community involvement in the development process. Cornish will oversee several housing and community-development programs, including homeownership, rehabilitation, property disposition and community-development block grants. Cornish served as executive director of Druid Heights Community Development Corporation from 1988 until her retirement in January.

After a 39-year career with Citicorp, Pamela P. Flaherty has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Citigroup Foundation. She will remain as head of Corporate Citizenship and Global Corporate Social Responsibility, where she recently served as senior vice president. Flaherty is a board member of a number of nonprofit organizations including the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and ACCION International.

Aaron Dorfman is the new executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. Dorfman was previously the executive director of People Acting for Community Together, where he had served since 1997. In 1992, he began working with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in Chicago. He was head organizer of ACORN’s Minneapolis/St. Paul chapter and started a chapter in Miami.

Dana Bourland, director of Green Communities at Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., was selected to be a member of the first Leadership Forum organized by the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders. Her role will be to recognize and train emerging leaders in affordable housing and community economic development lending and investing. The Leadership Forum is a two-year program designed for community-development professionals who wish to learn more about financing, loan products and Community Reinvestment Act examinations.

Organizations & Initiatives

At its first annual National Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., in March the National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA) emerged as a new voice for local community development corporations. Fifteen state community economic development (CED) associations formed NACEDA to be the leading advocate for affordable housing, jobs and economic-development programs in low-income communities. It will act as a convener of the CED field and help to shape and pursue a national CED agenda. Jane DeMarines, former director of external relations and development for the National American Indian Housing Council, was chosen to be NACEDA’s first executive director. www.naceda.org

On April 30, the Fannie Mae Foundation will cease day-to-day operations as an independent organization. In its place, the Fannie Mae Corporation has established the Office of Community and Charitable Giving to build on its housing and community-development work. Stacey D. Stewart, former president and chief executive officer of the foundation will head the new office as senior vice president. The new office will continue much of the work of the foundation, including directing support toward building thriving neighborhoods in the D.C. area through investments in housing, education and homelessness; addressing the nation’s housing challenges; and advancing efforts to end homelessness. www.fanniemae.com

Oakland-based National Housing Law Project is a recipient of the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation issues these awards to recognize organizations that are addressing some of the world’s most challenging problems. NHLP has become a nationwide leader in legal advocacy for the lowest-income residents of federally assisted housing. www.macfound.org

PlaceMatters, a new nonprofit that seeks to provide innovative solutions and approaches to land-use planning and sustainable development, is the brainchild of William Roper, president of the Orton Family Foundation. PlaceMatters is an independent affiliate of the foundation. www.placematters.org

Housing Assistance Council awarded its Skip Jason Community Service Award to five people whose efforts have improved the housing conditions of the rural poor in their communities: Lorna Bourg, executive director of the Southern Mutual Help Association Inc. in Louisiana; Steve Kirk, president of Rural Neighborhoods Inc. in Florida; Sabino Lopez, executive sub-director of the Center for Community Advocacy in California; and Griffin Lotson, chief executive officer of Sams Memorial Community Economic Development, Inc. in Georgia. HAC also recognized Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-Texas) for service on the national level with the Clay Cochran Award for Distinguished Service in Housing for the Rural Poor. www.ruralhome.org