Community Development Week

CNHED is pleased to announce our annual DC Community Development Week spanning September 25 through September 29, 2023. Included in our Community Development Week Events will be the Equitable Communities Conference on Tuesday, September 26th, and the Community of Leaders Reception on Thursday, September 28th. This year, we’re focusing our annual Community Development Week on racial equity.

Download our 2023 Sponsor Package

Join us on Tuesday, September 26th for our 2023 Equitable Communities Conference — a day of collaboration, networking, and learning as we work to design and advance community economic development solutions in partnership with community leaders and those with lived experience.

Join us on Thursday, September 28th for our Community of Leaders Reception as we celebrate the local leaders, government officials, community development organizations, and small businesses who are actively working toward including resident and community voices in their programming, policies, and decision-making.

About Community Development Week

The District has a rich spectrum of community development entities including nonprofit and for-profit affordable housing developers, housing counseling and human service agencies, workforce development providers, small business technical assistance providers and associations, community lenders, community development intermediaries and government agencies that have made tremendous contributions to providing resources to low-moderate income communities and increasing economic vitality of the District.

CNHED represents this infrastructure of community development and we are honored to set aside one week each fall as Community Development Week to draw attention to their efforts and celebrate their accomplishments.

The week’s activities will illuminate the community development field’s role in creating and preserving affordable housing; assisting the creation, health, and expansion of small businesses; creating and financing community economic development projects; energizing commercial corridors; and creating opportunities to reap increased income and improved quality of life. Community Development Week includes a series of coordinated activities across the span of CNHED members as well as with our government partners and supporters.

Bob Pohlman Lifetime Achievement Award

In 2018, CNHED created the “Bob Pohlman Lifetime Achievement in Community Development Award” in honor of CNHED’s Executive Director from 2000–2014. This award is awarded annually during our Community Development Week to an outstanding local leader with at least 20 years of consistent service and leadership in the District of Columbia’s community development field.

Learn More About the Award

Sponsorships Available!

Your support is critical. Not only will your contribution enable CNHED to coordinate an excellent DC Community Development Week, Equitable Communities Conference, and A Community of Leaders Reception; but ultimately, you enable CNHED to continue to:

Curate and grow partnerships across business lines, sectors, issue areas, and geographies
Spearhead innovative and holistic high-impact solutions that target systems change and social/racial equity
Collaborate with and educate public officials to sustain and increase local appropriations for critical community development programs
Develop and maintain a sense of community throughout our organizational stakeholders, ensuring ample space for networking, idea sharing, volunteering, and additional partnerships
Inform, educate, and build the capacity of our members, partners, and allies
Seek out and include under-represented voices and perspectives in policy, advocacy, solution development, and program management

Join us as we advance community development solutions that address the inequity of under-resourced communities in the District of Columbia.

Thank you to our sponsors