"It's about people," says Wayne Meyer, chief executive officer of New Jersey Community Capital. That's one reason he serves as mentor for the Puerto Rico Nonprofit Leadership Development Initiative. The leadership initiative, created by NeighborWorks America with Enterprise Community Partners, the Fundación Comunitaria de Puerto Rico and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, brings together a cohort of organizations in Puerto Rico for mentoring, peer learning and technical assistance. The organizations also receive up to $50,000 for staffing and training expenses as they continue to help their island recover from repeated natural disasters.
Those serving as mentors include NeighborWorks America and Enterprise Community Partners staff, who have worked together several times this year, and CEOs from network organizations. They volunteer their time, and find it as rewarding as the people they mentor. NeighborWorks will feature mentors and mentees, who spoke about the importance of the mentoring program, as the program wraps up.
Maria Rodriguez-Collazo, director of housing programs at PathStone, knew Meyer, her mentor, from the Advisory Housing Council for the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York. He's the chair; she's vice chair. But this is a whole new way of working together, they say.
They have things in common and so do their communities. Rodriguez-Colazzo is working through the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. In New Jersey, Meyer worked with his community through the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, which destroyed homes and businesses. As in Puerto Rico, the nonprofits helped bring them back.
Meyer has also used Opportunity Zone Funding, designed to spur economic development, for several projects, so his was the right brain to pick as Rodriguez-Collazo tried to determine if such funding would work for her organization and the redevelopment of 5 acres to mixed use.
"She wanted to know about the process, about our experience with some of our investors and the lessons we learned," Meyer says. "We've used it now three times and each time we've learned something different."
"It's the first time trying to do a project like this in Puerto Rico," Rodriguez-Collazo explains. "But Wayne has experience with a project he completed and one he's now developing. We had so many questions about affordable housing development combining tax credits and the new incentive that require having investors. It was an eye-opening conversation."
Mentorship programs are important, Meyer says, because they serve as a chance to enhance leadership abilities. A lot of us are good at technical aspects of our jobs, like budgets and projects, he says. "But what's really important is how you adapt to change," especially system changes. "To share that through mentorship enhances leadership qualities."
Meyer says that as an organization, New Jersey Community Capital has learned a lot from partners in the field. "To the extent we can share some of that learning, we're privileged to be able to do so."
Rodriguez-Collazo says Meyer offered to connect PathStone with other organizations and help them find the best funding structure. She says she's glad for the chance to talk about possibilities and to share information. The next step is to get feedback on their potential project, a plan to redevelop public housing sites and integrate those housing developments into the community, making some multi-family and some single-family, with wraparound services. "We are looking at programs for kids and seniors and to have a project that can change lives, with supportive services connecting residents with opportunities that then help them achieve self-sufficiency."
Meyer says the work his organization – and Rodriguez-Collazo's – tries to do is about economic, social and racial justice. "We're guided by this principle: how can we build better places by making investments in housing, in community facilities, in small businesses, in food security, arts and culture –the traditional building blocks that are needed for a community. We also recognize that building places is not enough. We need to think through how we can create opportunities for people."
Laura Cantero, CEO of Grupo Guayacan, a private sector-driven nonprofit in Puerto Rico, says her favorite part of the leadership initiative is the mentorship program. Cantero is mentored by Susan Jouard, NeighborWorks America's senior regional public affairs and communications advisor for the Northeast region.
"I rarely have time to connect with people outside of my immediate network – or even outside of Puerto Rico – to talk about the things I want to develop," says Cantero, who has spoken with Jouard every two weeks since the end of August. "For me, it's been one of the best parts of the engagement as a whole. We've been talking about how to have a stronger case for support and how to connect with funders or potential funders who don't know we exist.
"For me, it's almost been like a therapy session. It's very seldom that locally we get to chance to talk to people who actually get it." Because Jouard understood what they were looking for, Cantero says, she was able to suggest the right technical assistance. When you understand the problem, you can add value for the solution."
Cantero says that Jouard speaks with people on a regular basis and connecting with them, to an organization like hers, "is liquid gold. We can't find contacts like this from a Google search."
She says she hopes they can find a way to maintain the mentorship part of the program even after it officially ends. "There's value to that type of one-on-one support," she says.
Jouard says the two have discussed a whole range of subjects from fundraising and resource development to how to expand the Puerto Rico organization's network on the mainland. She says it feels less like a mentoring relationship and "more like I'm having a conversation with a colleague. I'm learning so much from her. I am so impressed with Laura's Grupo Guayacan and the depth of support they have from alumni of their programs."
The organization raised over $82,000 through small donations throughout the island for their online Giving Day -- during a pandemic and economic downturn, Jouard says. "They haven't missed a beat in delivering services and generating enthusiasm for their work."
The first step was to understand Cantero's organization and what it was offering, he says. They discussed relationships with different partners and competition on the island. "I feel like I'm more of a sounding board," Jouard says. "When I can provide creative input, I do."
Cantero was interested in resource development on the mainland, and Jouard was quick to make connections. The two also discussed how to get people's attention when so much else – a pandemic, for instance – is happening, and how to help Grupo Guayacan achieve all it can.
"Puerto Rico has been so hard hit – from Hurricane Maria, the changes in government, the earthquakes, the pandemic and economic downtown," Jouard says. "The non-profit organizations and people running them are extremely capable and resilient. They are the backbone of the island's recovery and growth, and we must do all we can to support their success."
Six Puerto Rico nonprofits participate in the leadership initiative. Along with PathStone and Grupo Guayacan, organizations include Habitat for Humanity of Puerto Rico, Instituto para el Desarrollo Socioeconomico de Vivienda de Puerto Rico, Inc., Fundacion de Desarrollo Comunal de Puerto Rico, Ponce Neighborhood Housing Services.
12/31/2020
