President and Chief Executive Officer of Neighborhood Allies, a multifaceted community development intermediary engaging Pittsburgh area residents and organizations with innovative tools that expand opportunity for transformative community change. He has ultimate responsibility for the overall management of the organization including, but not limited to, operations, fundraising, financial management, hiring and personnel management, board and external relations, vendor management, grant making and strategic investments, and program evaluation.
Since taking the helm, Presley has been elevating Neighborhood Allies’ value as a trusted community development partner that is unlike any other organization in Pittsburgh, serving as an investor, thought leader, and catalyst for innovative approaches in order to solve challenges in under-resourced neighborhoods. He has injected new energy into the local community development system, and has built a forward-thinking, solutions-oriented community development organization that brings hope, fresh ideas, expertise, and resources to distressed and transitional neighborhoods.
Under Presley’s leadership the organization has grown by more than 300%, from an annual budget of $2.1 million, with $4 million in assets, to a dynamic entity and an annual budget of over $7 million, with $17 million in assets. Additional accomplishments include:
Launching the first of its kind, Centralized Real Estate Accelerator, a revolutionary community-based real estate development initiative, designed to accelerate, scale, and sustain a more strategic, effective, and equitable real estate system in Pittsburgh;
Creating five multi-sector, multi-disciplinary networks to support and build greater alignment, capacity and performance in the community investment system;
Increasing and diversifying revenue sources from four funding sources to more than 45 funders, including securing a permanent Endowment Fund.
Presley’s background spans corporate and nonprofit leadership. He is a nationally recognized leader in the field of community and economic development and was most recently the founding Executive Director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC), the first city-wide community development corporation in Youngstown, OH. Presley came to the non-profit sector after a successful 18 year banking career, primarily focused on community development lending and community revitalization. Previously, he served as Vice President for KeyBank where he was responsible for identifying, structuring, and closing community development/commercial real estate loans that ultimately led to the creation of affordable housing, economic development, and job creation.
