JoAnn Kane is a nationally recognized social justice advocate and expert in community investment programs to revitalize low income neighborhoods. Ms. Kane has worked throughout the United States to assist organizations led by women to build ten thousand affordable housing units and to increase the impact of the innovative grassroots institutions they lead. In support of this mission, Ms. Kane secured over $40 million in loans and grants to fund hundreds of successful nonprofit development initiatives in underserved communities and develop a new generation of community leaders.
Ms. Kane’s career in neighborhood development started in Baltimore, Maryland. She was a member of the staff of the Department of Housing and Community Development that launched the highly successful $1 House/Urban Homesteading Program. She assisted hundreds of “homesteaders” to secure financing to purchase and rehabilitate homes throughout the City and became the project manager for The Otterbein, a concentrated site of 200 new and rehabilitated homes. The award-winning project was the housing anchor of the redevelopment of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
Building on her experience in Baltimore, Ms. Kane joined the national program staff of Neighborworks America. During her four-year tenure, she traveled extensively across the country to identify and fund the expansion of unique community development models including urban lending consortia; energy conservation; and alternative micro finance strategies. The rich combination of travel to diverse communities and the opportunity to work with creative local leaders formed the basis of a national career in support of affordable housing and economic justice.
Ms. Kane was appointed the President and Chief Executive Officer of The McAuley Institute in 1984. For nineteen years, she led the national, nonprofit community development organization in its growth from start-up to its position as a preeminent organization serving low-income women leaders. She directed the delivery of technical and financial services to 2,500 nonprofits and faith-based organizations in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Under her leadership, the Institute’s loan fund grew from an initial capitalization of $200,000 to $15 million. Those funds were recycled many times resulting in over $200 million in local housing development projects in some of the most underserved communities in the nation.
Ms. Kane has contributed to the strengthening of the community development field as the founding director of The National Community Reinvestment Coalition, the America Works Partnership, the Coalition for Low Income Community Development, and The Interfaith Funders Group. She has consistently been recognized for her leadership on a wide range of national boards serving as the Chairperson of the National Neighborhood Coalition; the Treasurer of The Social Compact; the Executive Committee of the National Low Income Housing Coalition; as the Chair of HUD’s Homeownership Opportunities for Women; and as Secretary of the Board for Homes for America.
Ms. Kane’s lead a consulting firm providing faith-based institutions, grassroots women’s organizations, and community development corporations with a wide range of planning and business tools adapted to meet the needs of nonprofit mission and programs. The firm specializes in holistic approaches that strengthen impact and organizational sustainability through the development of affordable housing, strategic policy and organizing strategies, custom research and analysis, and creative deployment of real estate assets. Clients have included Oxfam America, The Women’s Community Revitalization Project, Wider Opportunities for Women, Faithworks, Southern Mutual Help Association, homeWORD and Global Action for Children.
Her professional recognitions include the Women of Justice award from NETWORK, A Catholic Social Justice Lobby and the David Aschiem Friend of Housing Award. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Georgian Court College in 2001. In 2008, Dominican University awarded Ms. Kane the Caritas-Veritas Award.
