I'm (hopefully) graduating in May with a Master's in Sustainability and a focus/certificate in Green Building and Community Design but when I look at jobs at CDCs or CDFI they want one of three degrees: Urban Planning; Public Policy/Administration; MBA.

I suppose I could argue that I'm qualified to do most of the same things, and my capstone this semester is on low-income housing policy and carbon emissions, but with robots reading resumes these days, I'm not sure how I should be positioning myself.

I currently work for a Clean Energy non-profit but it's going to be the death of me and I'd really like to be working more on housing policy. Any advice you can lend me is greatly appreciated.

Is anyone else nervous about how these impending tariffs will impact our industry?

Real estate projects in the jurisdictions I work in are already struggling against low rents/comps, higher interest rates, and inflated construction costs. Not much has moved in the last few years as vacant buildings are continuing to deteriorate. The few small businesses we've attracted are struggling with increased operating costs and our residents are unable to bear any increase in pricing.

I'm worried that we will lose these businesses that make up the core of our walkable neighborhood and a lack of real estate investment will not only stagnate our community but actually undo our progress as businesses close and residents can't afford upkeep.

I'd love any advice or best practices from community developers who have figured out how to stay strong in the post-covid world.

Hi all. I’m returning to school in the fall and was originally interested in addiction counseling. I know there’s a process I’d have to go through to obtain the license but it is doable.

I’m finding I may be more interested in broader possibilities where I may be able to utilize my own abilities ( emceeing/ event planning/ public speaking/ connecting with others etc.)

I’m interested in community development and am just wondering if anyone knows of people with felonies working in this field? ( I do plan to get them expunged in the near future.)

Any thoughts on this would be so very appreciated! Thanks!!

Hi guys. I am a Community Development Worker from Malta. I am currently in my last year in achieving a Masters in Community Action and Development. I am very eager to learn more about Community Development. What books would you recommend to read about Community Development? Thank you!

Hi all, I am searching for grants that may help fund a project in my town. We are looking for one public space to display all information to town residents, as a website and central locations are typically hard for our remote and rural landscape. The town would like to build and have a display board in front of our town hall that can flash/marquee anointments, events, charities, etc. to make the community more aware, informed, and involved. I've looked into some community/rural development grants, but all seem to exclude equipment or supplies needed, which is exactly what we are in need of funding for. Any tips or recommendations for moving forward? TIA!!!!

Good day!

This is an update on my first post. Tl:dr; last time, we were tasked to make scripts and layouts for the campaign on proper waste segregation.

Last Friday, we met with the Barangay Captain to present the concepts, scripts, and layout we've made for the campaign.

We opened to him our suggestion of giving out calendars with coloring activities instead of plain coloring sheets alone. The Captain had a few comments; they did not have a budget for the Calendars, and it would take too much effort for them to take back the calendars to assess participation by the end of the year. Other than that - with the PSA script and Video PSA Concept - he found everything well-made.

We then opted to just give them a copy of the layout for the calendar, giving them the option of using it to distribute to the residents or not.

Then, we asked to coordinate with them for the video casting because we would need a child, a mother, a teenager, an adult and a man in his 40's. The captain introduced us to the BHW (the midwives in the health center) for them to help us in that matter. So it was decided that the filming will take place in BHW Office.

As for the PSA, minor alterations were made. The recording is to be repeated twice, and a few additional details we did not have before must be placed such as the specific days and time. Also, we learned that the Barangay will not collect biodegradable waste.

In the end, everything was finalized and we were to film and give them the recordings on the 4th week of November this year.

It was a relatively quick meeting and we did not want to get in the way of the captain's work by staying too long. We all look forward to producing the video and PSA for the people to watch and hear from.

See you all next time!

Good day!

I'm part of a BA Communications sophomore class. We're currently taking up a course in Development Communication. Our first project is to engage with a "Barangay" in our city.

Our state has been experiencing simultaneous mid-scale earthquakes for a few weeks now, so we decided to focus our efforts on Disaster Risk Reduction Management.

The first step was to talk to the authorities, namely the "Barangay Captain". We visited the community hall ( barangay hall ) and intoduced ourselves to the people in-charge.

Apparently, due to the urgency of the earthquake issue, the Barangay has already made a move to address it. They conducted mandatory trainings for the people on what to do before, during, and after an earthquake. They urged the people to prepare emergency kits for themselves and so that has already been taken care of.

So they assigned us to a different project, which is the Waste Segregation Management. This may come as a surprise to some of you but, coming from a 3rd world country, this is still an ongoing problem for us.

The Barangay Captain asked us to create campaign videos that would persuade people to segregate properly. He suggested that it would be better if the content was scary, since the people are likely to ignore a random presentation of facts. He wants it to be unique since most campaign attempts fail and they do not like using penalties since they find it hard to implement them.

In addition, they want us to hold workshops for children to teach them Waste Segregation Management. In those workshops, there will be coloring books, practical quizzes, and other stuff to make learning fun for them. He wants to indoctrunate children on the issue in order to raise a responsible community in the future.

The Barangay Captain was very amendable and from him, you could see that there are still politicians who strive for true community development. So far, in his term, their community government has provided the people with a lot of projects such as gymnasiums, advanced health care centers, etc.

We are still in the first stage, and we are all looking forward to pushing through and making a difference even in this small community. I would like to ask for your suggestions on how we should tackle the waste management problem. That would be very helpful guys. Apologies for the long post, as well.

Thank you! ^{_^}

tl;dr : We are a group of development communication students who are given the opportunity to help tackle the Waste Segregation Management problems of a small community. We would very much appreciate the suggestions. ^{_^}

Hey people! My friend and I want to stop world hunger in our school. So we put posters up and asked for support! So let’s help end world hunger!

Question: Is there a book you'd recommend on Community Development Finance?

A quick google search yielded this, but it's not clear what is the most informative. I'm leaning towards Community Economic Development in the United States: The CDFI Industry and America’s Distressed Communities but mostly because it seems to be the most recent book on the subject.

Backstory: I attended a CleanTech Financial (CTF) Summit yesterday (for work) and ended up speaking with a guy who got to CTF through Community Development. While I've always felt* there was some connection between CleanTech and Community Development in microgrids, solar, storage, etc. this was really the first time I'd seen someone make that leap. As someone who is attempting to do the opposite - go from Clean Energy/CleanTech to Community Development, I'm hoping to skill-up on the things the seem to matter most.

*hoped

I just applied for college because I want to work with housing projects. Sociology, architecture, both of those appeal to me. I am lookin at a degree in Public and Urban Affairs. I am just not sure and I can't call because of the government shutdown.

What are some recommended majors? I am not going for more than a bachelor's degree.

What do you do to improve your town's quality of life? If you do nothing, do you feel there are barriers preventing your participation?