Tenant Spotlight: Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations

Community Development Corporations, or CDCs, are responsible for a wide range of activities that impact communities. Affordable housing, workforce training, small business lending, green space creation and neighborhood advocacy are just a few of the many ways CDCs regularly touch constituents.

The Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations, a NonProfit Center tenant organization, is the public policy and capacity building arm of the CDC movement in the Commonwealth. Allowing individual CDCs to share resources and lobby together strengthens their voices and helps garner statewide funding for new initiatives. For instance, MACDC succeeded in securing $30 million for Brownfields redevelopment and affected two major housing bond bills.

LIFTing Our Communities

In 2006, the advocacy arm of MACDC launched the LIFT (Local Investments for Tomorrow) campaign, working to pass innovative state initiatives to lift up local communities. The capacity building arm focuses on peer support and convenes different programs ranging from confronting racism, to networking opportunities for adult education programs to the community organizing institute.

Working with so many organizations outside of the office really drives home the sense of community found at the NonProfit Center. Shirronda Almeida, director of membership initiatives, lists several reasons for MACDC’s decision to move into the NonProfit Center, emphasizing the “creative ways to connect with peers.” “We don’t want to feel isolated as a small nonprofit,” Almeida says, and explains that MACDC was attracted "to the community, in a space with other like-minded organizations.” 

A Great Space ...

The many capacity building programs require space for meetings, and the access to the center’s several conference rooms is essential. As the staff member responsible for member initiatives, Almeida is often involved and enthuses that it’s a great environment to convene meetings. "It feels like the right place to be,” she says about being located in the NonProfit Center. “Guests frequently run into other people they know."

Almeida also points out that there are several other perks about the center that she loves, such as the depth of programming and the building’s courtyard.

Especially exciting to the NonProfit Center is MACDC’s Green CDC Initiative, a collaboration with New Ecology Inc., the Tellus Institute and Local Initiatives Support Corporation to offer training, technical assistance and access to funding for CDCs pursuing environmentally sound development projects.

The NonProfit Center is proud of having achieved LEED certification and is delighted to have a tenant who is helping to promote green building and design within other communities. The MACDC initiative also conducts research on best practices and advocates with lenders and government agencies to adopt policies that will better support sustainable community development.

... with Room to Grow

MACDC will celebrate its 25th year with a leadership breakfast on November 16 at the Institute for Contemporary Art. The event intends to honor history and look to the future. Ken Wade, president and CEO of NeighborWorks America, and Margaret Harrison, vice president and community investment officer for the Bank of New York Mellon will receive awards for their long, distinguished service to CDCs.

For more information about the leadership breakfast or to learn more about MACDC’s various programs, go to www.macdc.org.

Learn more about other NonProfit Center tenant organizations by visiting Our Tenants and Tenant Spotlight sections.