Chair of the Board Donald Phoenix Receives Founders Award from NeighborWorks America

WASHINGTON, DC – The Center for Community Progress congratulates Board Chair Don Phoenix on receiving the 2023 NeighborWorks Founders Award, which is presented annually to those who “embody NeighborWorks’ core values and whose lasting contributions shaped both NeighborWorks and its network.”

Phoenix served 26 years as regional vice president of the Southern Region for NeighborWorks before his retirement in 2021. During that time, he focused on strategies that uplifted historically poor geographies, worked to expand NeighborWorks’ reach following Hurricane Katrina, and nurtured innovative partnerships in the South and Gulf region.

“This award is very special to me because it comes from my colleagues and peers, acknowledging my contributions to improving people’s lives in the communities we serve. I was fortunate to be able to play a small role in the many contributions that NeighborWorks and its network have made in the South and across the country,” Phoenix said.

Community Progress is honored to have Phoenix’s decades of expertise and passion for community revitalization on our Board of Directors and are thrilled to see him recognized with this award for his lifetime of service.

### 

About Community Progress: The Center for Community Progress helps people to transform vacant spaces into vibrant places. Since 2010, their team of experts has provided urban, suburban, and rural communities battling systemic vacancy with the policies, tools, and resources needed to address the full cycle of property revitalization. As the only national nonprofit dedicated to tackling vacant properties, Community Progress drives change by uncovering and disrupting the unjust, racist systems that perpetuate entrenched vacancy and property deterioration. Community Progress has delivered customized, expert guidance to leaders in over 300 communities and provided hundreds of hours of free educational resources as well as leadership programming to help policymakers, practitioners, and community members across the country return properties to productive use. To learn more and get help for your community, visit communityprogress.org.