Want leaders in community development? Develop a new hiring strategy

It’s easy to stick to the tried-and-true pipeline when hiring for community development roles. But forming connections with people from different industries and generations can make our teams stronger. Do you ever wonder what the next era in community development looks like? In my 20-plus years in the field, I have been privileged to work with an array of professionals with backgrounds in the arts, architecture, construction, psychology, accounting and development. What has always intrigued me is that even though we have such diverse backgrounds, we still come together for the greater good: to build parks, housing, and streetscapes, and for community empowerment. As I look out into the field now, I still recognize those same skill sets, yet whenever I see job postings, I see that we typically seek the same type of candidate, and that postings lag for months looking for the “right” person. It makes me wonder if we are holding ourselves back in community development because we aren’t reaching deeper into our communities to find talent. As a leader who has sought talent at many jobs, I find myself leveling up my search criteria. No longer am I just looking for someone with a nonprofit background....