The United States National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA) was formed in 2006 by 11 state community economic development association leaders who saw the need to strengthen the bonds between community organizations for mutual benefit through sharing of expertise, capacity, and resources; and to bridge the divide between policy makers and the people they affect in America’s communities.

Since its founding, NACEDA’s membership has tripled. It now represents 36 state, city and regional community development associations. NACEDA also represents other organizations involved in the field, including several universities. NACEDA’s members promote the efforts of local community development practitioners through communication and advocacy to build the capacity and reach of the community economic development (CED) field.

This report picks up on efforts undertaken previously by the National Congress for Community Economic Development (NCCED). NCCED released their first report on the economic impact of the community development field in 1988 and released additional reports in 1991, 1994, 1998, and 2005. This report builds on those prior studies to measure the quantitative achievements of community based development organizations. The numbers presented are estimates based on weighted data gleaned from survey responses.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Who Are Community Developers?
3. Increasing Housing Choices
4. Stepping Up to Address the Foreclosure Crisis
5. Building, and Rebuilding, Green
6. A Comprehensive Revitalization Agenda
7. Resources for Getting the Job Done
8. Building a Stronger Development Field
9. Appendix: Methodology

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