PRESS RELEASE Friday, April 20, 2009

For Immediate Release Contact: Jane DeMarines Executive Director, NACEDA 703.741.0144 or jdemarines@naceda.org

NACEDA Hires Two Directors

Washington, DC - April 20, 2009 - The National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA), announces the addition of two Directors to its staff at its Arlington, VA headquarters. NACEDA represents 3,200 Community Economic and Community Development Corporations, through a network of state, city and regional associations across the country.
 
NACEDA has hired David Romo, as its Director of Government Relations/Policy, and Sarah McKinley, as Special Projects Director.

Government Relations Director, David Romo
David Romo joined NACEDA as the new Director of Government Relations on April 8th. Prior to joining NACEDA, he was Executive Director of Legislative Affairs for the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and prior to that he worked as Legislative Assistant for Congressman Ruben Hinojosa of Texas. His background includes 15 years of legislative and policy experience working in the Texas Legislature, Congress and as an independent Lobbyist. David is a native of San Antonio Texas and graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a Bachelors degree in History.
 
As Director of Government Relations, David will be heading up advocacy efforts for NACEDA, educating Congress and the Administration on a broad range of issues that help bring resources to low-income communities through the assistance of grass roots community development corporation efforts. These involve job creation, including workforce development affordable housing, community development, foreclosure prevention, social services and financial literacy.

Special Projects Director, Sarah McKinley
Sarah McKinley joined NACEDA as the new Director of Special Projects following the completion of her Masters in City and Regional Planning at Cornell University.  While at Cornell, Sarah focused her studies on community and economic development.  She has a Bachelors Degree in American history from the University of Chicago and a certification in economic development from Southern Illinois University.  Sarah has a background in community development having worked with the Greater Southwest Development Corporation on Chicago's south side - one of the city's oldest and larger CDCs that is best known for creating TIF and Enterprise Zones to retain jobs and stabilize business.  She has also worked for the International Organization for Migration in Mexico City and helped to write a plan to rebuild the 9th Ward of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. 
 
As the Director of Special Projects, Sarah will be leading the Managing Neighborhood Change (MNC) and Organizational Capacity Assessment (OCA) Initiatives as well as an Economic Impact Survey of the work of the CDC sector. 
 
"These two additions provide senior level experience to our staff and expands our opportunities for success on behalf of the work our members do in 3,200 communities and 26 states and 7 cities nationwide," said NACEDA Executive Director Jane DeMarines.

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About NACEDA and the CDC Industry
Through its member network state/city/regional associations, NACEDA represents more than 3,000 community development corporations. In 2005, as an industry total (aggregate) CDCs produced: 1.3 million homes (since 1988), 774,000 new jobs and 126 million sq feet of commercial/industrial space, housing for special needs populations and nearly 2/3 of CDCs offer homeownership counseling.