Training Provides the Tools for Success

Very few of us succeed alone, and part of the formula for success in affordable housing and community development work is ongoing training and education. For more than 30 years, NeighborWorks America's investment in training and professional development for the affordable housing field has been an unparalleled demonstration of how we carry out our mission. The impact of that in 2019 was clear, in the form of record-setting training participation, as well as groundbreaking work in our leadership development and Success Measures programs.

In fiscal year 2019, we awarded 13,800 training certificates to professionals, resident leaders and nonprofit board members from almost 2,000 organizations. Course enrollment was strong in online and in-person training offerings, but the NeighborWorks Training Institute (NTI) in New Orleans in August 2019 was a standout. More than 2,450 people participated for a week of more than 100 up-to-date courses and peer networking. In addition, our "place-based" training, delivered by request in communities across the country, continued to be an important part of our education portfolio. In 2019, we provided 91 such sessions for 34 organizations.

In 2019, a prime example of the role our training plays in the field was our work with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to prepare housing counselors for HUD's mandatory counseling certification exam.

Feedback from the HUD program has been overwhelmingly positive. According to one executive director following our NTI in Portland, Oregon, one of her staff returned to the office immediately after training, "took the test right away that following Monday and passed. This is definitely a win! NeighborWorks America does a great job preparing counselors to take the HUD exam." Such testimonials inspire our partners and funding organizations to help underwrite our training in the form of scholarships and other support.

But professional development doesn't end with our vast catalog of nearly 400 in-person and online courses. The professional development so necessary to effect community change spans all stages of a person's career. Our belief in the importance of staying at the cutting edge of professional development and training led us to create the NeighborWorks Achieving Excellence program in 2002. This transformative, 16-month cohort program provides 50 high-performing senior leaders with one-on-one executive coaching, structured peer support and a curriculum designed with and delivered by Harvard University. The coaching, peer work and content are all laser-focused to enable each leader to address a major issue facing his or her organization. The ninth round of the program took place in 2018-2020. One participating organization focused on connecting health care entities with local development organizations for greater health and impacts community-wide; another built a system to track projects in its pipeline, which led to greater ability to predict needed resources and ultimately to a much more time- and cost-efficient process; and another organization doubled the amount of its lending in Native American land by expanding to three additional states.

In addition to training and professional development, NeighborWorks America continues to advance the critical role of effective outcome evaluation in community-based work. The Success Measures program provides practical and relevant evaluation planning and technical assistance services, technology and measurement tools to organizations working in housing, community engagement, neighborhood revitalization, health, arts, financial capability and beyond. In 2019, Success Measures managed the third round of NeighborWorks' multiyear national community impact measurement project. It's one of the largest efforts of its kind in community development practice. It helps NeighborWorks network organizations measure and understand change over time in their communities, as reflected in resident quality of life, social capital and physical conditions.

Our broad-based professional development and evaluation services make NeighborWorks America truly unique in the affordable housing sector, not only helping to ensure that we're delivering on our mission, but also making sure that organizations across the country have the skills to do the same.