Local/Regional Consortia: Join Forces for More Resources

Information by State  Print version

Date: Thursday, August 9, 2007
Time: 10:45 — 12 Noon

This session provides important information to Neighborhood Networks stakeholders who are interested in starting or joining a local or regional Neighborhood Networks consortium. Neighborhood Networks staff discuss the consortium development process, as well as explain the benefits and advantages of participating in a consortium.

Materials:
Consortia presentation

Moderator/Presenter:
Shawn Escoffery
Neighborhood Networks
Vice President
BCT Partners Presenters

A vice president with BCT Partners, Shawn Escoffery has more than 11 years of planning, community, and economic development experience. Currently, Escoffery is the project executive for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Neighborhood Networks Initiative. In this position, he is responsible for managing the technical assistance program team in the development of strategic plans and sustainable organizational structures for Neighborhood Networks centers and Neighborhood Networks consortia. Throughout his career, Escoffery has managed projects and people effectively to produce positive outcomes for communities. Escoffery has extensive experience in workforce and economic development from his previous senior management responsibilities with the city of Baltimore’s Empowerment Zone and with New Community Corporation, one of the largest nonprofit community development corporations in the country. Internationally, Escoffery has worked on a waterfront redevelopment project and land use survey for the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador and a tourist redevelopment plan for the White Pagoda Temple in Beijing, China. Escoffery has worked with federal, state, and municipal governments, nonprofit organizations, community groups, and private corporations to ensure sound land-use planning and development. He has served as an executive commissioner for the city of Baltimore’s Human Services Commission and currently sits on the board of several nonprofit organizations.

Presenters:

Vasya Dostoinov
Neighborhood Networks
Senior Program Associate
BCT Partners

Vasya Dostoinov is a senior program associate with BCT Partners. Previously, Dostoinov worked with the contract services division of Government Services Group where he synthesized disparate information sources to develop transition and development plans for municipalities. He was also a management associate within the Prudential Financial Leadership Development Program, and was subsequently promoted to associate manager to co-lead the Insurance Division’s customer relations unit for life insurance contracts. Dostoinov has been on the Kohlberg Foundation Community Service Grant Committee since 2006. He spent a summer working with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Bonn, Germany; has traveled extensively throughout Europe; and is fluent in six languages. Dostoinov earned a master’s of public administration (MPA) from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University and a bachelor’s degree in economics with a concentration in environmental studies from Swarthmore College.

Debbie Markwood
Treasurer
Mid-Atlantic Digital Alliance Consortium (MADA)

As director of resident services for Community Housing Partners Corporation (CHPC), Deborah Markwood oversees and coordinates services and programs at CHPC’s affordable housing projects in Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida. Six certified Neighborhood Networks centers are located on these properties. Previously, Markwood was the former assistant director of programs for Women and Children at the Rescue Mission, an emergency homeless shelter in Roanoke, Virginia. She is a member of the Housing Partnership Network’s Peer to Peer Networking Group and the NeighborWorks America Learning Center Consortium. These national groups are comprised of organizations that share best practices on community building and service delivery to individuals and families of low wealth. Markwood currently serves as treasurer of the Mid-Atlantic Digital Alliance (MADA) board of directors for the HUD Neighborhood Networks Consortium. Markwood is a HUD-certified assisted housing manager, and has received extensive training in community building and resident services through the nationally renowned NeighborWorks Training Institute.

Joseph Mayerhoff
Board Member
Neighborhood Networks New York Consortium (NNNYC)

Joseph Mayerhoff currently serves as assistant vice president of The Kraus Organization LLC, a multi-dimensional real estate company providing highly skilled and qualified professionals to service every aspect of the industry. Mayerhoff has an extensive background in all aspects of real estate, including rent collection, acquisitions, lease negotiation, contract negotiation, and property management. Mayerhoff is a successful Neighborhood Networks advocate. Among his proudest achievements is a successful grant application for a New Approach Anti–Drug Program that resulted in a $235,000 award from HUD. The monies are to be used toward improving security and development of a Neighborhood Networks center. The Kraus Computer Learning Center opened in May 2003 as one of only three centers in the United States to pioneer the Digital Media Technology program. Through this program, participants learn to make digital video productions. In December 2005, the Kraus Computer Learning Center was one of the first Neighborhood Networks centers in the country to achieve Certified status from HUD. Mayerhoff is overseeing the development of the Kraus Organization’s second Neighborhood Networks center, the Macombs Village Computer Learning Center in Bronx, New York, which opened in June 2007. Mayerhoff is a member of the board of directors and chair of the partnership development committee of the Neighborhood Networks New York Consortium, Inc. (NNNYC), a consortium serving New York City and its metropolitan area. In its short tenure, NNNYC developed a partnership with the New York City Department of Small Business Services Workforce 1 program. Through this program, residents will receive training at Neighborhood Networks centers and then be fasttracked for job placement through Workforce 1. In addition to his role at the Kraus Organization, Mayerhoff has recently started Grant Write, a freelance grantwriting business servicing nonprofit organizations nationwide. Mayerhoff received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Queens College and his juris doctor from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University.

Madelyne Pfeiffer
Vice President
California Neighborhood Networks Consortium (CNNC)

Madelyne Pfeiffer is a clinical social worker who has provided counseling services and program oversight to adolescents, families, and seniors. Her experience ranges from counseling in residential group homes for adolescents to providing services in adult daycare centers. Pfeiffer also has a background in program creation and implementation. Pfeiffer is a vice president of Communities Advocating for Resident Empowerment (CARE), a California nonprofit organization created to provide residents of affordable housing communities with services and programs. These resources reinforce selfempowerment, foster economic independence, and encourage community involvement for these residents. CARE provides consistent, high-quality, multifaceted social services and staffing by seeking funding from a broad array of public and private sources. As vice president, Pfeiffer oversees and manages resident service programs; supervises onsite service coordinators and volunteers and local third-party agencies; and directs fund development and partnership expansion. Pfeiffer is a member of numerous committees that focus on improving care for youth and families in San Diego and Orange counties. She was recently elected as chairperson to the human resources committee for the San Diego Foundation for Change. Pfeiffer also serves as vice president of the California Neighborhood Networks Consortium. Pfeiffer holds a master’s in social work (MSW) from the University of Southern California, and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and art from Claremont McKenna College.

Charima Young
Neighborhood Networks
Project Associate
BCT Partners

Charima Young serves as project coordinator for the Neighborhood Networks consortia and partnership development team. In this capacity, Young builds partnerships with thriving national organizations that offer Neighborhood Networks centers a variety of resources, including grants, technology, workforce training, Internet connectivity, special education, and soft skills training. Young has more than 10 years of sales and marketing experience. Her relationship-building skills have been acquired through extensive network training as an INROADS alumna, training in sales and marketing, and her entrepreneurial ventures as a licensed realtor. Young applies her experience in branding and niche marketing to community development and national partnerships. Young previously worked as a resident coordinator and director for six Atlanta Housing Authority properties and established local community partnerships and collaborations with several companies and organizations. Young holds a master’s degree in public policy.