April was a very busy month for me as I traveled from Berea, Kentucky, to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Washington, DC. Each of these trips brought me into the presence of good people with good ideas that I am able to bring back to the HOC office so that we can keep improving and expanding our impact in our communities.
In Berea, I, along with executives from across Appalachia, attended the Fahe spring retreat. At this annual event, we embraced the theme of Learning in Motion and shared updates, innovations, successes, and challenges as we all work to advance the critical #HousingCantWait campaign. HOC is proud to be doing our part as Fahe members strive to double our impact in Appalachia over the next 5 years by building or rehabilitating 60,000 homes and providing community services to benefit 1 million people.
In Cambridge, I met with my 50 amazing colleagues from the Achieving Excellence program I have been a member of for the last 16 months. This executive leadership program is a partnership between NeighborWorks America and the Harvard Kennedy Business School’s Executive Education certificate program. To say that this has been a challenging program to be in would be an understatement, but to say that there have been some interesting participants, professors, and coaches involved would be, too. Everyone engaged in this program has been phenomenal, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn from both world-class professors and equally impressive peers from across the country who are striving to be the best leaders they can in the community development and affordable housing world. My work with Achieving Excellence has been inspiring and HOC will be bringing new services and connections to the communities we serve as a result.
Finally, my travel to Washington, DC was an important trip for two reasons. The first day I spent in our nation’s capital, I was grateful to visit with staff from the offices of Senator Capito, Senator Justice, and Congressman Moore. In each case, I was able to share about the meaningful ways HOC is strengthening the communities of north central WV, and how important our membership affiliation with NeighborWorks America is to our impact and success as an organization. The next two days I attended NeighborWorks America’s annual Executive Symposium, which is a gathering of executives across the NeighborWorks network of organization where we explored the theme of Collective Leadership: Building Strength for Today & Tomorrow. In a world full of challenges these days, this theme was right on target, and I was thrilled to have HOC’s Board President, Carrie Allender, join me for these important conversations.
Whew. After all of that, I am so very glad to be back in the Mountain State, applying what I learned to the daily work we do at HOC to strengthen communities, improve lives, and do our best. On to the next venture for HOC!