NeighborWorks is excited to announce that Jim Jennings has joined the team as our new Director of Strategic Initiatives.
Jim brings more than a decade of experience in communications, community development, housing, local government and strategic planning to NeighborWorks. Most recently, he served as Senior Director of Audience Development & Growth with WVIA Public Media, where he led the cross-department initiatives of the Marketing and Digital teams, managed staff and budgets, developed partnerships and worked with organizational leadership on communications strategy, community engagement and public service initiatives.
Before joining WVIA, Jim served as Senior Marketing Manager with Yoga International, managing multi-year campaigns, supervising teams, developing partnerships and building systems to support program evaluation and organizational decision-making. Earlier in his career, he worked as Real Estate Editor for Philadelphia Magazine, where he reported on housing markets, zoning, neighborhood development and regional growth.
Jim also brings extensive experience in local government and community development. He served six years on Honesdale Borough Council, where he participated in budgeting, infrastructure planning, land-use discussions and community development initiatives. He also founded and led a regional stormwater taskforce that brought together municipal, county, state, nonprofit and business partners to address flooding and drainage challenges.
His work in housing continued through the Wayne County Housing Taskforce, where he served as co-chair and helped lead a countywide effort to assess housing needs and develop recommendations around housing stability, aging in place, affordable and workforce housing and blight mitigation. Through that work, Jim had the opportunity to see NeighborWorks' work firsthand and develop a deeper appreciation for the organization's people-focused approach.
“I’m especially excited to join NeighborWorks as its first Director of Strategic Initiatives and help shape this new role within the organization,” Jim said. “It’s an opportunity to build on NeighborWorks’ strong foundation while developing new partnerships, projects and approaches to some of the housing challenges facing our communities."
Jim holds a bachelor’s degree in Broadcasting, Telecommunications & Mass Media from Temple University.
Please join us in welcoming Jim to the NeighborWorks team!
