Dear Friends,

After nearly 30 years at MACDC, including 20 as President & CEO, I have decided that it is time for me to take on a new challenge. I have informed the MACDC Board that I plan to leave MACDC at the end of this year. I am also delighted to share that I will be taking on the role of CEO at MassINC starting in January.

As you can imagine, I did not make this decision lightly. I have absolutely loved my time at MACDC and I remain a total believer in the power of community development to change lives, change communities, and change the world. I am proud of the many things we have accomplished together over the past 29+ years, many of which are highlighted in the MACDC Timeline that we produced for our 40th anniversary celebration. These include:

• Winning legislative campaigns that have advanced economic opportunity and equity, and strengthened the CDC sector, not the least of which is the Community Investment Tax Credit
• Securing significant budgetary wins that have steered dollars to worthy programs and investments
• Creating institutions that will serve the community for years, such as the Life Initiative, the Property & Casualty Initiative, the Mass. Growth Capital Corporation, The National Alliance for Community Economic Development Associations, the Coalition for an Equitable Economy, and, of course, the Mel King Institute for Community Building
• Sustaining a strong community development network through our peer-networking programs, member events, and other capacity building programs
• Building a powerful movement that commands the attention of policy makers, including candidates for Governor who now routinely participate in our Candidate Forum at the MACDC Convention every four years.

I came to MACDC and stayed here because I wanted to have a positive impact and I'm confident that these results have indeed improved the lives of thousands of people across the Commonwealth. At the same time, what often sustained me in doing this work are the wonderful colleagues from across the state and the country with whom I have had the privilege to work. It has been these personal relationships that have provided me with the support, the counsel, the laughter, and the love that makes this work so meaningful and so much fun. I certainly felt this sense of community two weeks ago at the MACDC Convention in Worcester! I will always cherish my years at MACDC.

Of course, to everything there is a season, and I believe that now is the right time for me to try something new. MACDC is well positioned for the future and ready for new leadership. For me, I'm excited about the opportunity to lead MassINC, an organization that I have long admired with a mission in which I believe deeply. For those who may not know, MassINC seeks to "make Massachusetts a place of civic vitality and inclusive economic opportunity by providing residents the nonpartisan research, reporting, analysis, and civic engagement necessary to understand policy choices, inform decision making, and hold the government accountable."

Given the state of the world today, I cannot think of a more important task than fostering civic vitality and inclusive economic opportunity. I fully expect that I will continue to work with many of you in the years to come given the significant overlap between MassINC's work and community development. I invite you to reach out to me to share your ideas and thoughts about such opportunities or just to say hello. Please don't be a stranger!

I will remain at MACDC for the next two months working to ensure a successful transition. We have a strong board and staff that are ready to step up. MACDC's best days are in the future!

With gratitude,

Joe

--

A Message from MACDC's Board Chair, Angie Liou

Dear Colleagues,

As we prepare to bid farewell to our longtime President Joe Kriesberg, the MACDC board of directors would like to express our sincerest gratitude to Joe for providing over two decades of leadership in Massachusetts for the community development field. We can find Joe's fingerprints on legislative wins ranging from housing, zoning, small business, health, and climate issues. We have Joe to thank for increasing the capacity of CDCs via the establishment of the Mel King Institute and the creation of the Community Investment Tax Credit. These resources enable our CDCs to tackle the community and economic development issues that most affect our communities and residents, whose voices tend to be excluded. Equally important is Joe's leadership during the past two and a half years of the pandemic in advocating for small business relief and tenant assistance while also helping our members navigate unprecedented challenges and working with community organizers and others to launch the Racial Equity Pledge.

As MACDC moves through this transition period over the next two months, the board is working closely with Joe and the staff to put together an interim leadership plan to ensure that MACDC continues to offer high quality programs and services to our members while pursuing our policy agenda with the Legislature and the new Governor. During this time, I and other MACDC board members will make ourselves available to support the staff and the organization.

Simultaneously, the MACDC board will immediately begin a search for a permanent President to lead MACDC into the next chapter. The board will undertake a search process that ensures we field a wide net of diverse candidates, and we will work closely with the new President to ensure a smooth transition. MACDC's financial outlook remains stable, we have a talented and experienced staff, and we have a strong and committed board to guide the organization through this transition.

Please join me in congratulating Joe on his new role as the CEO of MassINC!

Sincerely,

Angie Liou, Board Chair

MACDC is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a five-year grant for its Housing Quality and Health (HQH) Equity Initiative. The grant from the Massachusetts Community Health and Aging Funds will support MACDC’s efforts to address racial health inequities caused by poor quality housing. 

MACDC is among 24 nonprofit organizations that were collectively awarded $15.6 million in grants in three core areas.  Three CDCs- Community Development Partnership, Community Teamwork, and Southeast Asian Coalition of Central MA- also received awards.  MACDC’s award, in the core area of creating long-lasting, community-driven policy, systems, and environmental changes, will focus on addressing the health hazards posed by lead paint and poor indoor air quality. 

In order to address racial health inequities resulting from poor housing quality, MACDC will concentrate its initial work in 5 Gateway Cities which we will select based on need and on the potential to address the problems identified. In these cities, ultimately, we aim to secure new resources to address housing quality problems that impact health, and substantially improve housing quality. Our immediate focus will be on intensive community engagement in these cities: with municipal leaders, CDCs, community residents, and other grassroots organizations. With these community representatives, we will identify the local housing quality problems and their health manifestations, particularly for households of color and low-income households.  

Concurrently, MACDC will: 

Commission a report, which will document the extent of housing quality problems linked to lead paint and poor indoor air quality statewide, document the resources and programs available to address these problems, and identify the gaps in addressing the housing quality problems, and their disproportionate impact on the populations described in the prior paragraph.  

Work to secure new resources to significantly improve the housing quality in these cities, and thereby improve resident health. Ultimately, the plan is to utilize the knowledge gained from the local work, and the additional resources secured, to scale up efforts to address housing quality problems in communities across the Commonwealth. 

The HQH Equity Initiative will build upon the work of the HQH Task Force, a group of experienced practitioners consisting of advocates in the health equity, housing, elder and disability fields; healthcare providers; and data professionals- who have guided MACDC’s housing quality and health work over the past year. 

The work will be co-staffed at MACDC by Elana Brochin, Program Director for Health Equity, and Don Bianchi, Director of Housing. If you have any questions, you can reach out to Don at donb@macdc.org.

In August and September of 2022, the Resident Leadership Academy had the wonderful opportunity to send our staff Sarah Byrnes, Resident Leadership Academy Director and Tiana Lawrence, Mel King Institute Program Associate along with several RLA trainers to participate in the overnight Retreat and Renewal program at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, MA. Kripalu is a well-known nonprofit educational organization that is centered on centuries-old teachings of yoga, mindfulness, and both personal and communal transformation. CLICK HERE to read more.