Ben Hecht

Ben Hecht is an experienced nonprofit executive, author and social entrepreneur. He was appointed President and CEO of Living Cities in July 2007. Living Cities, an innovative philanthropic collaborative of 21 of the world’s largest foundations and financial institutions, works to transform the lives of low-income people and the urban neighborhoods in which they live. Over the past 18 years, Living Cities’ members have co-invested over $500 million that has, in turn, leveraged more than $16 billion in tangible community assets.

In 2000 Ben co-founded One Economy Corporation, a nonprofit organization that has become one of the most effective vehicles for social change in the nation. Ben led the growth of the organization from 3 employees to a $15 million organization with more than 50 staff members, online media properties serving more than 150,000 low-income people a month, and programs in 40 states, the Middle East and Africa.

Immediately prior to One Economy, Ben was Senior Vice President at The Enterprise Foundation (now Enterprise Community Partners). In that capacity, he led the organization’s efforts beyond housing—building well-respected programs in child care, workforce development and economic development. Under his leadership, the number of community-based organizations working with Enterprise doubled from 750 to more than 1,500 in 48 states; capitalization of the organization’s revolving loan fund grew from $30 million to $200 million; and regional networks of nonprofit organizations linked by technology were born in New England and the Northwest.

Ben received his JD from Georgetown University Law Center and his CPA from the State of Maryland. For 10 years, he taught at the Georgetown University Law Center and built the premier housing and community development clinical program in the country. In 1992 with Congressional support, Ben founded the National Center for Tenant Ownership at Georgetown, a program facilitating affordable housing development by nonprofits and tenant groups nationwide. Prior to Georgetown, Ben worked for the public accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand in Washington, D.C., and served as counsel to the nonprofit, National Rural Development and Finance Corporation.

Ben has written three books, ManagingNonprofits.org (2001) with Rey Ramsey, Developing Affordable Housing: A Practical Guide for Nonprofit Organizations (3rd Edition, 2006) and Managing Affordable Housing: A Practical Guide for Building Stable Communities (1996), all of which were published by John Wiley & Sons.

He has been an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center for nearly two decades, teaching accounting concepts for lawyers. In 1997, Ben was awarded Georgetown’s prestigious Charles Fahy Distinguished Adjunct Professor Award.

Over the years, Ben has served on the boards of nonprofit housing organizations in Cleveland, Denver, New York and Portland, Ore., and on the national boards of numerous organizations. He currently sits on the boards of Georgetown Day School and One Economy Corporation.

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