Mel King Institute Yearbook 2024

June 25. 2024 | Artists for Humanity

GOOD

SUPPORTS Eastern Bank is committed to recognizing the good in our communities and celebrating the work of the

MASSACHUSETTS ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS We proudly support the 15TH ANNUAL MEL KING INSTITUTE BREAKFAST

Member FDIC

15TH ANNIVERSARY MEL KING INSTITUTE

Breakfast Agenda

JUNE 25, 2024 | 9AM – 11:30AM | ARTISTS FOR HUMANITY

Breakfast, Networking, Frugal Books, Boston Music Project MC

Emily Cullinane Torres, Chief of Community Engagement, Massachusetts AGO

OPENING POETRY

Joliné Brito, Spoken Word Poet, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción

WELCOME

Jason Talbot, Co-founder /Managing Director of Programs, Artists for Humanity

PRESENTING SPONSOR

Rahn Dorsey, Chief Impact Officer, Eastern Bank

FOUNDING PARTNER

Libby Hayes, Director of Housing Stability, Mass Housing

PROGRAM TESTIMONIAL

Sean Mock, Program Associate, The Neighborhood Developers, Community Development Mentoring Program

PROGRAM UPDATE

Shirronda Almeida, Director of The Mel King Institute

COMMUNITY BUILDING

Emma Caviness, Mel King Institute Program Associate

PROGRAM TESTIMONIAL

Sugey Rondón Reyes, Family Organizer Coordinator, Saint Stephen’s Youth Program Senior Organizing Series

FOUNDING PARTNER

Gustavo Quiroga, Executive Director, LISC MA

AMERICORPS TESTIMONIAL

Camille Charles, Financial Capabilities Officer, Urban Edge

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Imari Paris Jefferies, CEO, Embrace Boston

POETRY

Joliné Brito, Spoken Word Poet, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción

CLOSING REMARKS

Emily Haber, President and CEO, MACDC

Networking, Frugal Books, and Boston Music Project.

Breakfast Sponsors — Thank you!

Founding Organizations

Presenting Sponsor

Eastern Bank Platinum Bank of America | First Citizens Bank | JPMorgan Chase Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation Massachusetts Housing Partnership NeighborWorks America | Santander The Boston Foundation | United Way of Massachusetts Bay The Kuehn Charitable Foundation Gold Capital One | CEDAC | M&T Bank Massachusetts Growth Capital Corp NAIOP Massachusetts | Needham Bank | Rockland Trust

Silver CHAPA | Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston Preservation of Affordable Housing

Ann Silverman Franklin County CDC IBA Leader Bank Licata Risk Advisors

Bronze

Maria Latimore Group Munkenbeck Consulting Promoting Good, LLC TD Bank The Life Initiative

From community banking to community building At JPMorgan Chase, we are committed to our communities and work with a diverse group of partners to provide innovative solutions that foster community development, address affordable housing needs and drive inclusive economic growth.

We are proud to participate in these efforts and support the Mel King Institute. Happy 15th!

jpmorganchase.com/impact

© 2024 JPMorgan Chase & Co.

EVENT MC

Emily TorresCullinane Emily Torres-Cullinane served on the Steering Committee for the Mel King Institute for a decade and taught the Community Engagement course. She has nearly two decades of experience in municipal and federal government, community engagement and political strategic planning in Greater Boston. She cares deeply about the empowerment of people, particularly with the goals of amplifying diverse voices, building civic social infrastructure and increasing the capacity of decision makers to have stronger connections with the communities they represent. She is a proud first-generation Latina with Colombian roots and a lifelong resident of Massachusetts raising a young family in the Greater Boston area.

She currently serves as the Chief of the Community Engagement Division in the Executive Bureau of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO). Prior to joining the AGO, Ms. Torres-Cullinane was the Director of Community Engagement at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council where she developed its engagement practice over the course of 12 years and was a founding member of the Massachusetts Municipal Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Coalition.

She is an Interaction Institute for Social Change certified facilitator and a graduate of YW Boston’s LeadBoston Program, the Commonwealth Seminar and the Initiative for Diversity in Civic Leadership. Additionally, she serves on the Town of Canton’s Energy Advisory Committee as Vice Chair.

Struggle POEM BY MEL KING It’s a struggle Developing Solidarity.

It’s a struggle Being Positive It’s a struggle Making Common Unity.

It’s a struggle LIVING. It’s a struggle Because it’s slow But if we Struggle At Developing Solidarity, Being Positive Shaping Reality, Making Common Unity, We will all Grow.

Because to struggle Is to work for Change, and Change is the focus of Education, and Education is the Basis of Knowledge, and Knowledge is the Basis for Growth and Growth is the Basis for Being Positive and Being Positive is the Basis for Building Solidarity Building solidarity is a way to shape Reality and Shaping Reality is Living and Living is Loving, So Struggle

Being In Harmony POEM BY MEL KING

To feel, to think, to wonder being in awe of the majesty of it all to sigh, to laugh to cry and as important to wonder why being human is floating with the clouds and flying with the birds sailing with the fish savoring the honey of the bee the sweetness of the water feeling the energy of the sun in the richness of the soil being a poet making up words seeing the museum in the sky being human is to be able to smile to sing, to feel to bring out the gifts of creation to sing in the rain to think out loud to feel inside being in love and knowing you can love being

Chain of Change This fall we will launch a book club initiative revisiting the Chain of Change.

Join us by purchasing your book today from Frugal Books!

BREAKFAST POET

Joliné Brito

The oldest child and daughter of immigrant parents from the Dominican Republic, Joliné Brito is a 17-year-old spoken word poet. She resides with her family in Grove Hall, in Roxbury, MA and is a junior at Fenway High School. Starting at 14 years-old, she writes about her love for her beautiful yet corrupt Caribbean Island, the generational curses and strengths from her Black and Latinx bloodlines, social justice, inequality, racism, sexism, and their impact on her. Her voice is a powerful representation of resilience, revolution, and resistance.

About the Mel King Institute MISSION AND VISION Since our launch in 2009, the Mel King Institute for Community Building has focused on supporting vibrant and thriving Massachusetts communities by advancing the skills, knowledge and leadership ability of professional practitioners and volunteer leaders in the community development field. We engage in partnerships with nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, state agencies and national community development groups that increase access, encourage innovation, and uplift successful strategies to transforming communities. Through the ongoing dialogue the Institute facilitates, organizations align their work towards the field’s common vision, and adapt to the changing world.

The Institute’s curriculum and programs enable Community Development Corporations, non-profit organizations and their partners to build more homes, create more jobs, grow more businesses, nurture more community leaders, and pursue more comprehensive community building strategies.

Program Map Professional Education

Workshops, Trainings & Seminars Certificate Cohort Program LISC AmeriCorps Partnership Scholarships

Resident Leadership Academy

Board Member Training Public Housing Training Program Resident Leadership Training Collaborative

Racial Equity

Community Building

Intergenerational Organizers Community Meditation Night Partnerships and Coalitions

Field Building

Core Competencies Website Resources and Tools Innovation Forums

Community Development Mentoring Program Trainings and Scholarships MACDC Racial Equity Pledge

Program Partners COMMUNITY BUILDING

• Intergenerational Organizers with Micheal Jacoby Brown and Allentza Michel

MENTORING • Building Connections Mentoring ­— NAIOP/ Builders of Color Coalition • Community Development Mentoring — CHAPA

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION • Business Certificate — Cambridge College/ Mass Growth Capital Corporation

• Consortium for Housing and Asset Management (CHAM) • LISC Massachusetts / AmeriCorps • Senior Organizers Seminar Series — Rising Sun Consulting • Training Space — Urban Edge

PUBLIC HOUSING TRAINING • Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities • Mass Housing Partnership • Mass Law Reform Institute • Mass NAHRO • Mass Union of Public Housing Tenants

Steering Committee Carol Roberts Brockton Housing Authority

Matt Wilson Campaign Consultant

Emily Haber MACDC

Sarah Lamitie First Citizens Bank

Ezra Glenn MIT

Sarah Byrnes Mass Union of Public Housing Tenants

Jose Iraheta The Neighborhood Developers Libby Hayes MassHousing Lynn Peterson NeighborWorks America Madeline Nash CEDAC Mathew Thall Mathew Thall Consulting

Sasha Parodi Metropolitan Area Planning Council Sharon Fosbury The Neighborhood Developers Shelly Goehring Mass Housing Partnership Tiana Lawrence Coalition for a Better Acre

We support the Mel King Institute in its efforts to foster vibrant & thriving communities

Community Assistance | Multi-family rental financing ONE Mortgage | Center for Housing Data www.mhp.net | 617-330-9955 | info@mhp.net |

@mhphousing

Professional Education

Accomplishments 2023 – 2024

626

29

STUDENTS

17

TRAINING COURSES

PEOPLE PARTICIPATED IN THE CERTIFICATE PROGRAM

16

INSTRUCTORS AND PRESENTERS

157

HOURS OF TRAINING

MassHousing would like to congratulate The Mel King Institute on their 15th anniversary!

We are proud to support The Mel King Institute in

their mission to foster community in Massachusetts by advancing the skills, knowledge and leadership ability of professional practitioners and volunteer leaders in the community development field.

masshousing.com

Resident Leadership Academy

Public Housing Training Program For 8 years, the Mel King Institute has been training public housing residents through our partnership with Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, the Mass Union of Public Housing Tenants, Mass Law Reform Institute, MassNAHRO, and the Mass Housing Partnership.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE Annette Duke — Mass Law Reform Institute Ben Echevarria — Mass Union of Public Housing Tenants

FY24 IMPACT DATA

15 4 300

Ben Stone — EOHLC Christine Devore — EOHLC

Training sessions offered

Dawn Brown — Mass NAHRO

Open Roundtables offered

Joyce Taylor — EOHLC

Total Resident Attendees

Emily Haber — MACDC Laura Shufelt — Mass Housing Nicole Beckles — Boston Housing Authority Randi Parks — Greenfield Housing Authority Sarah Byrnes — Mass Union of Public Housing Tenants Shirronda Almeida — Mel King Institute Tiana Lawrence — Coalition for a Better Acre

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Imari K. Paris Jeffries Imari K. Paris Jeffries, Ph.D., is the President and CEO of Embrace Boston, where he is leading a citywide racial equity transformation through The Embrace monument, the Embrace Center, and ongoing community organizing efforts. Imari brings a wealth of experience from the nonprofit management, racial equity, community activism, education reform, and social justice sectors and has served in executive roles at Parenting Journey, Jumpstart, Boston Rising, and Friends of The Children. He currently serves as a Trustee of the UMass System, UMass Global, Mass Humanities, Boston Ballet, the Huntington Theatre and former Governor Baker’s Black Advisory Commission.

Most recently, he was the Executive Director of Parenting Journey with other leadership stints as Chief Executive Officer of the Italian Home for Children, Chief Operating Officer of Jumpstart, interim CEO of Boston Rising, and Executive Director of Friends of the Children-Boston. Imari has extensive professional experience in public, national, and nonprofit leadership and has supplemented his work with volunteer service on boards. These have included Jumpstart, the African American Federation of Greater Boston, Save the Harbor, Save the Bay, the Elizabeth Peabody House, the Massachusetts Mentoring Partnership, the Edward Brooke Charter School, The Providers Council, and Third Sector New England.

Imari was recently named one of Boston’s most Influential Bostonians by Boston Magazine and the Boston Business Journals Power 50. He is a four-time graduate of UMass Boston and received his Ph.D. through UMass Boston’s Higher Education Program in June 2023. An Army veteran, Imari served from 1991-1996. He currently lives in Hyde Park with his family.

MEL KING INSTITUTE

Staff SHIRRONDA ALMEIDA Director, Mel King Institute

AMANDA KAHAN Communications and Program Coordinator EMMA CAVINESS Program Associate RODOLFO SALDARRIAGA-HUALLPA Program Support Consultant

firstcitizens.com

Memb

Working together.

Achieving more.

Forever First. ®

First Citizens is a proud sponsor of Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations

Upcoming Trainings JULY Financial Fundamentals of Asset Management (CHAM) SEP T EMBER Planning 101 -Planning & Development at the Local Level Program and Project Management Health Equity and Community Development OCTOBER Planning 102 : How Racism & Classism Shaped Boston & Beyond Planning 103: Putting the Community into Planning Persuasive Presentations

melkinginstitute.org