Neighbor 2 Neighbor

After eleven years with Neighbor 2 Neighbor, I have made the difficult decision that it is time for me to leave. I still have much to offer this community, so I am beginning my search for new employment. What I will cherish most about my time at Neighbor 2 Neighbor is the relationships with all of the amazing people and groups that work so hard to make their neighborhoods the very best place to live. Since coming to Neighbor 2 Neighbor, we have made some significant additions to our services and programs: In 2014, we hosted the very first Good Neighbor Day Festival. It was a tiny little backyard event that grew into a major festival. My start as Executive Director was preceded by a loss of funding that almost meant the dissolution of our organization. Thankfully, we were able to survive and are now beginning to thrive. In 2016, we launched the?Neighborhood Leadership Forums?which provide an opportunity for neighborhood leaders to get to know each other, discuss issues relevant to local neighborhoods, and provide feedback and recommendations to the Mayor’s Office. After a hiatus during the worst of the COVID pandemic, we were able to relaunch in January of this year. In 2018, we held the inaugural?Conference for Neighborhoods. C4N Nashville has been one of the highlights that many neighborhood leaders look forward to every year. In 2019, with the thoughtful work of 28 neighborhood and community leaders from across the county, we published our first white paper, “Improving Nashville’s Neighborhood Engagement in Land-Use Decision-Making.” In 2020, we launched?The Planning and Zoning School, which is now free to every resident living in Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County. In 2021, we organized and launched the?Emerging Neighborhood Leaders Academy. In 2022, we published the inaugural State of Metro Neighborhoods Report. The 36-page report outlined the top challenges facing our local neighborhoods, including rapid development, neighborhood safety, litter and illegal dumping, disaster preparedness and recovery, and the lack of engaged neighbors and willing leaders. The report is significant in that it spoke to the breadth and depth of these challenges. Thanks to everyone for their support over these many years.