Jackie Gorman and Courtney Pogue join NDC to expand real estate developer training to new communities
Two leading professionals in the field of economic and community development have been named to lead The National Development Council’s (NDC) innovative Supporting Empowered Emerging Developers (SEED) Academy, a high-impact, intensive training and technical assistance program for start-up BIPOC and woman real estate developers. Courtney Pogue has joined NDC from the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County (TN) where he was Director of Economic Development. Jackie Gorman has come to NDC from her role as CEO and Managing Partner of Ivy Consulting, a firm that provides a variety of services to government agencies, institutions of higher education and non-profits. They will serve as Senior Directors of SEED.
NDC’s SEED Academy, launched in 2012, has grown over the past decade into a program that partners with communities to provide emerging developers with training and technical assistance on the full range of subjects that a developer must know and understand to successfully enter the field. In-person, live-remote and self-guided training addresses the stages and steps of the development process and development finance. SEED Academy panel discussions bring local architects, lenders, tax credit investors, zoning officials and successful developers together to share their experience and advice with the SEED Academy participants.
Each SEED Academy ends with a capstone presentation by the Developers on their project to lenders, community leaders, and other real estate decision-makers to gain feedback and support. SEED Academy participants reconvene periodically to enhance their technical skills and knowledge, to share success stories, and to collectively identify barriers to BIPOC and woman-led developers in their communities.
Participants in SEED academies delivered by NDC, and its partners have already met with success in Detroit, Omaha, Tulsa and Seattle. The addition of Ms. Gorman and Mr. Pogue will support NDC’s expansion of the program to more communities across the U.S. that seek to expand wealth building opportunities to more diverse developers and to meet affordable housing, and other neighborhood and community development goals in communities of color and low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.
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