NEW ORLEANS — NeighborWorks America announced Terri North, president and CEO of Providence Community Housing, is one of 50 leaders selected for the NeighborWorks Achieving Excellence Program, conducted at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
The NeighborWorks Achieving Excellence Program, made possible in part by support from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, is an 18-month program that equips executives with the skills to advance their organizations’ performance. Each participant identifies and clearly defines a specific challenge critical to their organization’s success then spends the program addressing that challenge.
“Providence was born when Hurricane Katrina caused a housing crisis in New Orleans and throughout the Gulf Coast Region,” North said. “While we’ve made tremendous progress replacing affordable homes that were lost to the storm, there remains an affordable housing crisis due to rising rents and housing costs. Providence Community Housing must now evolve to meet this new challenge and ensure that families can afford a decent, safe place to live. The Achieving Excellence program will provide valuable guidance to help Providence evolve its business model with a focus on long-term growth and sustained impact to foster healthy, diverse and vibrant communities.”
The only comprehensive training of its kind, Achieving Excellence includes three formal sessions at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, as well as executive coaching, intensive peer learning and guidance from author and consultant Douglas K. Smith. The first session at Harvard University will take place in August 2016, with additional sessions planned for February and September 2017 plus a graduation and final session together with program alumni. Between academic sessions, participants will actively work on a clearly-defined goal critical to their organization’s success and will be working closely with their executive coach and peer group.
“The Achieving Excellence Program equips leaders with the tools to build stronger organizations—more engaged and results-oriented staff and board members working to achieve even greater impact in their communities,” Christina Deady, senior director of leadership and workforce development at NeighborWorks America, said. “This not only affects the organizations and communities but also results in a stronger pipeline of energized leaders throughout the nonprofit sector.”
Achieving Excellence has graduated 325 executive directors, CEOs and other senior leaders since the program began in 2002, with astounding results from each class. Independent evaluations have shown tremendous results for organizations that have participated in this program.
In an impact evaluation of a recent class of the NeighborWorks Achieving Excellence Program, 72 percent created positive change in their communities, 77 percent raised staff performance and morale, and 100 percent improved organizational strength and results.
