Robert O. Zdenek
Robert Zdenek is a community development consultant and principal investigator at the Public Health Institute. He is the co-author of Navigating Community Development.
Building Prosperity—A Review of ‘The Making of a Democratic Economy’
A review of "The Making of a Democratic Economy: Building Prosperity for the Many, Not Just the Few," by Marjorie Kelly and Ted Howard
Tracing the Roots of CDFIs: A review of Democratizing Finance
This book is a major contribution to increasing knowledge and awareness of how far the community development finance movement has come in 30 years.
Small Investments Can Yield Big Returns. Review of A Few Thousand Dollars
Over a dozen stories of how Americans from all different backgrounds have managed to leverage a few thousand dollars to lead lives that have helped thousands of other people, and strategies to reinvigorate a movement to influence asset building policy nationally.
Safe Banking for Seniors
To support older adults to safely age in community, we need to consider what they need out of banking—and what they need to be protected from.
Coming Together
The nonprofit housing development field has myriad intermediaries and support organizations, but no one unified voice. Should it have one?
My Berlin Wall Moment
It took me a couple of days after the extraordinary evening of President-elect Obama’s victory on November 4 for the impact to really sink...
With ACORN, Transparency Is Just as Important as Good Values
The last few months has seen a number of articles, editorials, and interviews about the lack of financial responsiveness and accountability in the private...
Another Disaster
One of the stories that has been submerged in the Midwest flooding is the complete lack of an effective FEMA response, bad judgment, and...
A Good-News Economic Story for the Disabilities Community
Lost in the endless political campaign and Iraq news is an emerging success story. The Real Economic Impact Tour conceived and sponsored by...
Speak Out for the Neighborhood Stabilization Act
The foreclosure crisis is a tragedy for an increasing number of families, but what is frequently missing in the media coverage is the negative...
Balancing Act
Old definitions may be obsolete as CDCs weigh whether to grow and how to build their impact in today's social and economic environment.
A Merger of Equals
The merger of Over-the-Rhine Housing Network and ReSTOC created a transformative opportunity for these two Cincinnati institutions and their neighborhood.
Second Chances
Workforce Intermediaries for the Twenty-first Century, edited by Robert P. Giloth. Temple University Press in association with The American Assembly, Columbia University, Philadelphia, PA,...
The Community Economic Development Handbook
The Community Economic Development Handbook: Strategies and Tools to Revitalize Your Neighborhood, by Mihailo Temali. Amherst H. Wilder Foundation (www.wilder.org). 2002. 288 pp. $35...
Building Wealth
Community development corporations have attracted billions of dollars of public and private funds to revitalize urban neighborhoods and rural communities. But global and national...
The New Urban Leaders (by Joyce Ladner)
The New Urban Leaders, by Joyce Ladner. Brookings Institution Press, Washington D.C., 2001. 135 pp. $22.95.
Kent Amos was an IBM executive who, with his...
Weaving Storytelling and Theory
Renewing Hope Within Neighborhoods of Despair, by Herbert J. Rubin. State University of New York Press, Albany, NY. 2000. 280 pp.
Herbert Rubin, a sociology...
Developing Future Leaders
Leaders Who Make A Difference: Essential Strategies for Meeting the Nonprofit Challenge, by Burt Nanus and Stephen M. Dobbs. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA 1999....
Fighting Poverty as a Nation
The dramatic changes in federal and state antipoverty programs are leading to renewed interest in policies and strategies for reducing poverty. Borrowing from the...
The 8 Habits of Highly Effective CDCs
1 CDC leaders must be aware of their own limitations and recognize they're responsible for developing staff and building institutions. Any entrepreneurial venture –...