NeighborWorks® America's Achieving Excellence Marks 25 Years of Building Nonprofit Leadership

Flagship leadership program, developed with the Harvard Kennedy School, marks a quarter century as more than 1,500 practitioners convene in Miami Beach

MIAMI BEACH, FL, UNITED STATES, August 10, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- For five days in August, Miami Beach will become the classroom for professionals who lead affordable housing, homeownership, small business lending, and community development work across the United States.

This year's NeighborWorks Training Institute marks the 25th anniversary of NeighborWorks Achieving Excellence, the organization's flagship executive leadership program developed in collaboration with the Harvard Kennedy School. Alumni from across the country will gather in Miami Beach for a special forum and anniversary celebration recognizing the program's impact on nonprofit leadership over the past quarter-century.

From Aug. 10-14, over 1,500 practitioners will convene at the Miami Beach Convention Center for the NeighborWorks^® Training Institute (NTI), a five-day, in-person, "mobile university" held twice each year by NeighborWorks America. The event will offer more than 80 courses and industry-recognized certifications spanning affordable housing, asset management, housing counseling, community and neighborhood revitalization, small business lending, nonprofit leadership, Native community development, and rural community development.

The NTI arrives in South Florida at a moment when the region's affordability, insurance market and coastal resilience challenges are testing the community development sector in ways felt across the nation.

"The NeighborWorks Training Institute is where our field comes together to learn, challenge one another, and leave better equipped to serve our communities," said NeighborWorks President & CEO Marietta Rodriguez. "Bringing our network to Florida allows us to learn directly from leaders tackling some of the nation's toughest housing challenges while sharing ideas and solutions from communities across the country. The housing crisis won't be solved by any one organization. It will be solved by people willing to learn from one another and put those lessons into action."

The NeighborWorks Florida Collaborative (NWFLC), representing 12 chartered NeighborWorks organizations serving communities from Miami-Dade to the Panhandle, will play a central role in welcoming practitioners to the state and shaping the week's Florida-focused conversations.

Highlights of the week's agenda include a HUD-focused conversation titled "Together Through Change," a Solutions Lab on Investing in Leadership, a convening for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) focused on the evolving federal policy landscape for mission-driven capital, and a Southern Region roundtable and reception highlighting the work of the NeighborWorks Florida Collaborative and its member organizations.

The knowledge, skills, and partnerships developed through the NeighborWorks Training Institute translate into measurable results in communities across the country. In Fiscal Year 2025, NeighborWorks America and the NeighborWorks network helped create 17,600 homeowners, provided housing and financial capability counseling and education to more than 102,900 people, and supported nearly 48,700 jobs in communities nationwide. Those outcomes reflect the work of local organizations helping families achieve homeownership, preserve affordable housing, strengthen financial capability, and invest in community leadership.

"The next chapter of America's housing story will be written through partnerships among communities, local leaders and organizations working together to strengthen neighborhoods and expand opportunity," Rodriguez said. "That's what the NeighborWorks Training Institute is about. The ideas exchanged, partnerships formed, and skills developed here don't stay in the meeting room. They return home with the people building affordable housing, expanding homeownership, and strengthening communities. That's how lasting change happens."

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About NeighborWorks America

For nearly 50 years, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp., a congressionally chartered national nonprofit known as NeighborWorks^® America, has strived to make every community safer and more prosperous. Our network includes nearly 250 nonprofits serving every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Native lands. NeighborWorks provides grant funding, peer exchange, technical assistance, evaluation tools, and access to best-in-class training as the nation's leading trainer of housing and community development professionals. Across the country, NeighborWorks network organizations build and preserve affordable homes and apartments, provide financial counseling and coaching, encourage resident leadership, and partner with local stakeholders to advance health, economic opportunity, employment, and education. In Fiscal Year 2025, for every dollar received from Congress, NeighborWorks America and the NeighborWorks network attracted an additional $74 in investment from other sources. For more information, visit neighborworks.org.

About the NeighborWorks Florida Collaborative

The NeighborWorks Florida Collaborative amplifies the impact of Florida's 12 chartered NeighborWorks member organizations as they foster sustainable homeownership, develop affordable housing, and expand access to capital to build strong, thriving communities throughout the state. For more information, visit nwflc.org.

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Beau Hunter
NeighborWorks America
bhunter@nw.org | media@nw.org