nonprofit staffing providence, nonprofit staffing rhode island, Rhode Island nonprofit hiring

Search Success: Michelle Bleau Has Been Named Director of Housing Development With ONE Neighborhood Builders

No Comments

ONE Neighborhood Builders (ONE|NB) and Pillar Search and HR Consulting are excited to share that, following an extensive search, Michelle Bleau has been named Director of Housing Development.  In this role, she will lead housing development activities, supervising a team of project managers who advance projects through pre-development, construction, and into leasing. Michelle will represent ONE|NB and its interests externally, collaborating with consultants, project partners, financing entities, and others to successfully build high-quality housing. 

Michelle originally joined ONE|NB in 2022 as Project Manager for Real Estate Development. Michelle’s work in that role focused on deal sourcing, acquisition, design, community and partnership engagement, permitting & approvals, financing, consultant procurement, and construction.

Prior to joining ONE|NB, Michelle worked for a private development firm headquartered in Boston, where she was responsible for managing and overseeing the daily operations and correspondences associated with acquisitions, predevelopment, permitting, design, development, marketing, leasing, and sales of large scale multifamily and condominium projects in the Greater Boston area. Throughout her project work, Michelle collaborated with many nonprofit organizations and community development corporations, helping to source and allocate funding for community benefits, as well as forming partnerships to create affordable and mixed-income housing.

Michelle attended Roger Williams University and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She attended Boston University, Commercial Real Estate Certificate Program, NAIOP of Massachusetts, Continuing Education in Commercial Real Estate Program, and Freedom Trail Realty, MA Salesperson Licensing Program. 

ABOUT ONE NEIGHBORHOOD BUILDERS: ONE Neighborhood Builders (ONE|NB) is a nonprofit community development leader in Rhode Island that is expanding its work to the broader Greater Providence area while maintaining its deep roots in its historic home of Olneyville. ONE|NB’s mission is to develop affordable housing and engage neighbors to cultivate healthy, vibrant, and safe communities. Since its founding in 1988, then as Olneyville Housing Corporation, ONE|NB has developed 466 affordable apartments; 130 for-sale homes for low- to moderate-income homebuyers; and nearly 34,000 square feet of commercial and community space—totaling more than $135 million of investments. ONE|NB is the convening entity of Central Providence Opportunities: A Health Equity Zone, which brings together residents, more than five dozen community-based organizations, health professionals, local businesses, elected officials, and others to address root causes of health disparities and to improve neighborhood conditions. As the convener, ONE|NB is the backbone organization of this collective-impact initiative to increase economic mobility for residents in Central Providence. ONE|NB also created the first free community wireless network in Rhode Island, providing high-speed broadband to nearly 3000 unique users in the Olneyville neighborhood. For more information about ONE|NB, please visit their website.  

ABOUT PILLAR SEARCH & HR CONSULTING: A woman-owned business and Certified Diversity Recruiter based in Boston, Pillar Search & HR Consulting provides executive search/recruiting and human resources consulting expertise to nonprofit and mission-driven organizations, working with senior leaders and the boards of directors to hire and develop the very best talent across all functional areas of the organization. For more information about Pillar, please visit our website. 

Nonprofit housing job providence, Nonprofit recruiter Rhode Island, rhode island nonprofit leadership

New Search! Vice President of Housing With ONE Neighborhood Builders!

No Comments

VICE PRESIDENT OF HOUSING

POSITION SUMMARY

Pillar Search & HR Consulting is honored to partner with ONE Neighborhood Builders on the search for their new Vice President of Housing.

The Vice President of Housing will report to the President and Executive Director. The Vice President will regularly serve as the ED’s surrogate at internal and external meetings, be a member of the organization’s Senior Leadership Team, and will directly supervise three real estate project managers. The Vice President will be an essential partner to the President and Executive Director to help drive the agency’s strategic expansion. The ideal candidate is a mission-driven, entrepreneurial, highly skilled financial analyst, with verifiable real estate development acumen.

ABOUT ONE|NB

ONE Neighborhood Builders (ONE|NB) is a nonprofit community development leader in Rhode Island that is expanding its work to the broader Greater Providence area while maintaining its deep roots in its historic home of Olneyville. ONE|NB’s mission is to develop affordable housing and engage neighbors to cultivate healthy, vibrant, and safe communities. Since its founding in 1988, then as Olneyville Housing Corporation, ONE|NB has developed 466 affordable apartments; 130 for-sale homes for low- to moderate-income homebuyers; and nearly 34,000 square feet of commercial and community space—totaling more than $135 million of investments. ONE|NB is the convening entity of Central Providence Opportunities: A Health Equity Zone (CPO-HEZ), which brings together residents, more than five dozen community-based organizations, health professionals, local businesses, elected officials, and others to address root causes of health disparities and to improve neighborhood conditions. As the convener, ONE|NB is the backbone organization of this collective-impact initiative to increase economic mobility for residents in Central Providence. ONE|NB also created the first free community wireless network in Rhode Island, providing high-speed broadband to nearly 3000 unique users in the Olneyville neighborhood.

STRATEGIC DIRECTION

In June of 2020, ONE|NB established the following strategic direction. ONE|NB is poised to soon reveal its 2023-2028 updated strategy. This new strategy builds on the organization’s recent successes and will not reflect a significant departure. Robust Housing Development and Quality Real Estate Management will remain a signature focus for ONE|NB in the years to come.

Robust Housing Development and Quality Real Estate Management

ONE|NB will expand the availability of affordable, high-quality homes through the production, preservation, and acquisition of residential and mixed-used properties within their historic home of Olneyville and across Greater Providence.

Addressing Root Causes of Health Disparities

ONE|NB will engage residents and community-based organizations in their nine Central Providence neighborhoods to generate the social and economic conditions that prolong life expectancy and work to eradicate systemic barriers that lead to health disparities.

Embracing Innovation and Building the Community Development Field

ONE|NB will emerge as a thought leader in the field by distilling the lessons learned from developing and managing housing and convening residents and community organizations. They will participate in local and regional community development conversations, produce research and case studies, and amplify the impact of their community partners.

Real Estate Development SUMMARY

Residential

ONE|NB has developed 598 affordable rental and for-sale homes in historically-disinvested neighborhoods since 1990 – of which 187 have been developed in the last five years alone. The organization presently owns 454 apartments, providing high-quality, affordable housing for Rhode Island families. ONE|NB has completed 11 Low-Income Housing Tax Credit projects, totaling over $136 million of investment.

ONE|NB’s housing development pipeline includes projects in four municipalities (Providence, East Providence, Central Falls, and Cumberland), totaling 433 rental apartments and 20-for sale homes. These new projects will begin coming on-line in November/December 2023, with the last development having an anticipated completion date of spring 2027.  When completed, this influx of new housing will represent a near doubling of their existing portfolio.

ONE|NB’s pipeline projects include the development of service-enriched housing for persons experiencing homelessness, medically frail older adults, and youth aging out of foster care. ONE|NB develops these service-enriched projects in concert with social service partners. The development and integration of service-enriched apartments in larger mixed-income projects (serving <30% AMI to market-rate) is an important element to ONE|NB’s approach to housing development.

Commercial

ONE|NB has developed 20 commercial spaces, which totals 34,900 square feet and currently leased to local businesses and community-based organizations – supporting entrepreneurs, artists, and child development agencies. They recently purchased a prominent commercial development that is partially occupied and that will be redeveloped into a mixed-use project.

Asset Management

ONE|NB hires a third-party property management company to manage day to day leasing, maintenance, compliance, and rent collections of its rental portfolio. ONE|NB oversees this company and puts in place long-term strategies to maximize cash flow, prevent evictions, ensure timely capital improvements, and adapts program set asides to reflect market realities.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES 

This full-time position is charged with leading and integrating three key responsibilities: housing development, resident services, and asset management. The emphasis of this position is on creating beautiful spaces for low-income families and households who have experienced trauma so that they may enjoy housing stability.  While ONE|NB’s real estate work is not exclusively affordable residential development – commercial development as well as moderate-income and market-rate residential development are also components of our work – this is the primary focus on the position.

  • Strategic Leadership: A member of the senior leadership team, the Vice President will work closely with the CEO and the other team members to guide the overarching strategic direction of the organization. The team ensures ONE|NB’s organizational culture and values are promoted in everything we do and that the organization’s commitment to equity, learning, and continuous quality improvement t are supported. The Vice President will attend all board of director meetings and will represent the President and Executive Director at internal and external meetings when she is not able to be present. In addition, the Vice President will oversee three direct reports, who in turn manage a collective team of 6 team members.
  • Real Estate Development: The Vice President will lead all existing real estate activities and work closely with the President on new business development. In the first few years, the VP will focus on moving the existing real estate development pipeline through pre-development into construction and leasing. ONE|NB’s existing real estate development pipeline includes projects utilizing the 4% LIHTC, 9% LIHTC, HOME, CDBG, a variety of RI state and municipal “soft second” sources, and debt. While not presently included in any of ONE|NB’s capital stacks, experience with New Market Tax Credits and Historic Tax Credits would be a plus. ONE|NB also seeks to continuously innovate its real estate development activities – through geographic expansion, enhancing the income-diversity of its residents, utilizing new financing mechanisms, introducing new construction techniques, and developing new partnerships. The development division has four team members.
  • Resident Services: The delivery and coordination of high-quality resident services is of utmost importance to ONE|NB. Because of our commitment to developing housing for persons who have experienced homelessness; have been involved in the criminal justice system, foster care, or other institution; and require accessible and service-enriched housing, it is vital that we provide culturally competent services to ensure all our residents remain at a minimum stably housed, and ideally, thrive. The Resident Services division includes three staff at full complement.
  • Asset Management: The Vice President will direct the work of three staff who work in the asset management division. ONE|NB has 13 affiliated corporate entities (Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Corporations) that own their real estate holdings, A third-party property management company manages the rental portfolio. This area of work also includes serving as managing agent for three Condominium Associations. The Asset Management division is responsible for the facility-management of ONE|NB’s office building, numerous small community spaces located in Providence, and vacant properties owned and awaiting redevelopment.

QUALIFICATIONS

The successful candidate will be a highly experienced, results-oriented professional with an exceptional work-ethic, committed to racial equity and advancing anti-racism practices, and to the vision and values of ONE|NB. In addition, the following standards will generally define the successful Vice President of Housing:

  • Bachelor’s degree at a minimum, advanced degree (master’s degree in business administration, real estate finance, or public administration) strongly preferred.
  • Minimum of 15 years of related professional experience inclusive of a minimum of 10 years senior management experience related to the following: real estate development, community development, and/or financial management.
  • Experience in all phases of affordable housing desired, with experience in developing, closing, and monitoring owners’ responsibilities of LIHTC projects required.
  • Experience with, and enjoyment of, supervising team members, and leading high-performing teams through growth and change.
  • Proven ability to build strong relationships with external stakeholders and partner with internal teams to lead to successful outcomes.
  • Enjoys fast-paced and challenging work environment and collaborating with a broad diversity of staff and partners.
  • Adaptable and skilled at multi-tasking.
  • Mission-driven and passionate about ONE|NB and related constituencies.
  • Good sense of self and strong personal presence.
  • A willingness to work hard and creatively solve problems for which the answers are not always obvious.
  • Knowledge of Rhode Island community development field and key stakeholders desired.

Ability to speak Spanish is a plus.

The Vice President of Housing will be required to work a full-time schedule with some flexibility required on nights and weekends.

ONE|NB offers a robust benefits package (including health, dental, and vision insurance), a retirement plan with matching contribution, a generous allotment of paid holiday and personal/vacation time, and an inspiring and innovative organizational culture.

This role offers flexibility to work remotely an estimated two days per week.

Candidates are not required to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination, though vaccination is strongly recommended.

The salary range for this role is $105,000-$125,000 annually. The compensation range is competitive and is commensurate based on experience.

ONE|NB works to dismantle all forms of discrimination. They fight the systems that oppress people from a vast range of identities and experiences. Cultivating a team that embodies the diverse experiences of Central Providence communities is essential to these aspirations. They strongly and sincerely encourage applications from people of color; immigrant, bilingual, and bicultural individuals; people with disabilities; members of LGBTQQ+ and gender non-conforming communities; and people with other diverse backgrounds and lived experiences.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Please submit your cover letter and resume to Cindy Joyce, Pillar Search & HR Consulting, via email to cindy@pillarsearch.com.