Biographical Profiles of
Instructors and Presenters
for the Blueprint Communities
Delaware
Training Program
March 2008 – January 2009
Sponsored by the Federal Home Loan Bank of
Pittsburgh in Partnership
with the University of Delaware Center for
Community Research and Service
DAVID BUCHES serves as Community Investment Manager for the Community Investment Department (CID) at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh (FHLB). The FHLB is a government-sponsored wholesale bank that provides banking services to over 350 participating member financial institutions in the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He is responsible for promoting the FHLB’s Community Investment Programs throughout the State of Delaware and the eastern portion of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He provides program information and technical assistance to both FHLB members and housing development organizations located in his area of responsibility. Mr. Buches joined the Bank in 2001 after serving as the Executive Director of the Dover Housing Development Corporation where he directed the Corporation’s affordable housing development and management operations. Overall he has over 25 years of experience in the field of affordable housing.
He received a Master of Science degree in Public Administration from the University of Delaware and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Lafayette College.
Phone: (302) 242-1257; Email: david.buches@fhlb-pgh.com
LEE BEAULAC is the Senior Vice-President for Community and Economic Development at Rural Opportunities, Inc. (ROI), a private, not-for-profit rural community development corporation and community development financial institution based in Rochester, New York. ROI is active in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, Vermont and in Puerto Rico. He has responsibility for the management of ROI’s small business lending and technical assistance programs as well as ROI’s homeownership promotion and community development activities. ROI has developed and preserved over 10,000 units of housing for low-income people and has financed over 350 small business enterprises. Lee currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC). He is also a member of the Executive Committee and serves as Treasurer of the National Rural Housing Coalition (NRHC). Lee has worked in the field of community-based economic development for over 35 years. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin American Studies from Ball State University and certificates in Community Economic Development from the Development Training Institute (DTI) and the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. Lee has also written many articles on community economic development which have been published in national journals and publications. He also received the 2004-2005 James A. Johnson Fellowship in Community Development from the Fannie Mae Foundation.
LESLIE
J. COOKSY is a faculty member in the University of Delaware’s
School of Education, with a joint appointment with Delaware Education Research
and Development Center. She has been a
professional evaluator for over 15 years. Her evaluation projects have
addressed a variety of areas, including community development, school-agency
collaborations, public health, and education. Leslie is a former Member
of the American Evaluation Association’s Board of Directors, and is currently
the editor of the Ethical Challenges section of the American Journal of
Evaluation. She is also a previous director of the Center
for Community Research and Service at the University of Delaware. Dr. Cooksy earned a masters degree in Rural
Sociology and the Ph.D. in Program Evaluation and Public Policy, both from
Cornell University.
Phone: 302-831-6872; Email: ljcooksy@udel.edu
RAHEEMAH JABBAR-BEY is an Assistant Professor in the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Delaware. Her research interests are economic and social equity, community economic development, urban policy analysis, and issues of race and poverty. She teaches courses in community development, organizing for social justice, civic engagement and community development and nonprofit leadership and has designed certification courses in Community Economic Development, Brownfields Redevelopment and Environmental Justice, and Faith-Based Community Development. These certification courses were developed by Professor Jabbar-Bey and are designed for both emerging and seasoned development practitioners in urban and rural communities. The courses are offered through the Community-Based Development Training Program in the UD Center for Community Research and Service. Her focus in the Center is on providing capacity-building opportunities for low-to moderate income individuals, persons of color and other marginalized societal groups in their efforts to establish productive and effective non-profit, community-based organizations to address issues of economic and social equity. She earned her BA in sociology and political science from Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio, and her M.S. degree in Community Economic Development from the School of Community Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University. Phone: 302-831-8564; Email: jabbarra@udel.edu
ANTHONY (TONY)
MIDDLEBROOKS is Assistant Professor in the Leadership Program in the School
of Urban Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Delaware, and is a
research analyst with the University’s Center for Community Research and
Service. He helped develop the doctoral
program in leadership as a professor at
STEVEN W. PEUQUET has been
affiliated with the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy at the University
of Delaware for 25 years. He currently
serves as Director of the Center for Community Research and Service and is an
associate professor and member of the core faculty of the School. He has worked on a variety of research and
public service projects related to affordable housing, housing discrimination,
homelessness, poverty, community revitalization and electronic community
networks in the U.S., The Netherlands and in Ghana and has published in all
these areas. Dr. Peuquet lectures frequently on
each of these topics, with a particular emphasis on the processes of strategic planning, public policy
analysis and evaluation. He earned a
master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the Graduate School of
Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, a master’s
degree in Regional Science (Urban and Regional Economics) from the University
of Pennsylvania, and his Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the
University of Pennsylvania.
Phone: 302-831-1689; Email: speuquet@udel.edu
CARA ROBINSON is a first year student in the PhD
program. She joins the University after working for three years as the
Executive Director of the Homeless Planning Council of Delaware where she
coordinated and assisted statewide data collection, grantwriting
and policy analysis. Currently, Cara plans to pursue research on the
emergence of the new political media and its relationship
to traditional media sources and issue development and framing.
Phone: 302-831-
8355; Email: carmbri@udel.edu
SCOTT SMITH is Public Relations Specialist in the Corporate Communications Department of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, where he has coordinated a range of communications projects, including annual reports, marketing campaigns, audio/video presentations, product naming, newsletters and Web sites, among others. He manages FHLBank's communications efforts for the Blueprint Communities initiative.
Phone: 412-288-7696; Email: scott.b.smith@fhlb-pgh.com
KATHY WIAN is
the Director of the University of Delaware’s Conflict Resolution Program (CRP)
and has worked at the University since 1994.
She has a secondary faculty appointment in the
Phone: 302-831-2927; Email: kwian@udel.edu
Harvey Young believes that character and credibility are at the core of both personal and leadership development. While these are not immediately obvious, they are often the most important. He is passionate about developing leaders who can combine character and credibility to become stewards over an organization’s precious resources—especially its people. Clients value Harvey’s impressive experience coupled with his energy and wit. Whether they spend one hour or three days with him, they feel the time is too short. His loyal client base invites him back to their organizations again and again.Prior to becoming a full-time leadership consultant, Harvey enjoyed a successful and diverse career in finance and management. He spent 30 years in executive positions for the following organizations: Housing Authority, City of Pittsburgh, Chief Operating Officer; Howard Hanna Financial Services, Pittsburgh, Vice President of Secondary Marketing (responsible for mortgage product pricing and trading operations); West Penn Financial Services, Pittsburgh, President. He also worked in Philadelphia as a Senior Marketing Representative for Fannie Mae. Harvey earned his MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Harvey was founder and President of MortgageXpress Financial Services, a mortgage banking company that generated over a billion in annual sales with revenues that exceeded $3,000.000. Harvey is a popular speaker and writer and writes frequently on his weblog findingyourvoice@blogspot.com. He writes on subjects related to leadership, life, and the possibilities of life’s journey. He is a sought after trainer and consultant on a wide variety of topics. Harvey also served eight years in the United States Air Force on both active duty and in the reserve. Harvey has worked with a variety of clients including Fortune 500 organizations in the United States Europe and Canada. His clients represent telecommunications, manufacturing, sales, real estate, education, banking, and finance. In addition Harvey is successful in working with non-profit organizations as well as governmental agencies at the local and federal level. He lends his expertise to various organizations in the areas of leadership development, finance and real estate development.