Beverly Coleman is an urban revitalization specialist with over 20 years of grantmaking, agency management and program development experience. Over most of her career she has focused on issues related to the health and competitiveness of low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. As its newly appointed Director, Beverly brings a wealth of hands on experience in planning and implementing collaborative efforts that improve the quality of urban communities.
For more than eight years she served as executive director of NeighborhoodsNow, formerly the Philadelphia Neighborhood Development Collaborate, a nonprofit focused on market-driven programs to improve the health and competitiveness of Philadelphia's low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Under her leadership, NeighborhoodsNow launched the city's first transit-oriented development initiative and built the foundation for an innovative new neighborhood preservation strategy focused on strengthening moderate-income communities at risk of significant decline. Before directing NeighborhoodsNow, Beverly was a Program Officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts where she managed a grant portfolio related to urban and economic development activities. While at Pew, she also directed the Targeted Neighborhood Initiative, an early comprehensive neighborhood development demonstration aimed at improving three lower-income communities in Philadelphia.
Prior to joining Pew, Beverly worked for the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning as a member of the evaluation team for the National Community Development Initiative and she participated in assessments of local intermediaries in Indianapolis, Indiana and Pittsburgh. She began her career in community development as assistant director for a community development corporation, Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation, and as program staff for a citywide neighborhood economic development organization.
Prior to returning to Philadelphia in 1989, Beverly worked as a budget analyst in Broward County, Florida and as a program development specialist for the NJ Department of Community Affairs where she performed assessments and monitored the activities of community service organizations. .
In addition to her extensive Philadelphia experience, Beverly brings to her new role a broad knowledge of best practices in the field. From 2001to 2006 she served on the board of the Community Development Partnership Network, a national educational and advocacy network comprised of urban intermediary organizations. Over this period she was an active participant in the Brooking Institute's weak market cities initiative, including touring older industrial European cities with the German Marshall Fund. She currently serves on the Affordable Housing Advisory Council of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh and in 2009 was appointed to the board of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority Beverly is one of 16 fellows of the Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use for 2010, the purpose of which is to provide city leaders with the peer-to-peer learning and analysis needed to address help address challenging land use issues. Beverly is also a member of the boards of the Fels Foundation and the Center for Architecture.
Beverly's educational experience includes a B.A. in Urban Studies and an M.A. from the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.
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