Strum

 

As an experienced business owner and government contractor for 35+ years, my client organizations grew to span the continental U.S., and extending to work performed in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. 

 

In the role of disaster recovery contractor for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from 2005-2008 my company assumed duty for the inspections, damage assessment and cost-estimates for more than 60,000 residential dwellings across the Gulf Coast region;  the planning and reconstruction of neighborhoods in Waveland-Bay St. Louis, MS providing new housing for the elderly, disabled and families with children; and coordinating with state, local, federal and congressional officials to secure funding for families and communities. 

 

Other contracted services included  family relocation "to bring back" to New Orleans over 10,000+ families with supportive services following Hurricane Katrina.  My firm was similarly contracted by U.S. HUD for the same range of services following Hurricanes Rita, Ike & Gustav.  

 

the International work was accomplished for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, with curriculum development and classroom instruction for their National Housing Administration to include classroom instruction with certification testing performed at the University of the West Indies Trinidad.  

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An accomplished trainer and public speaker since 1981, I gained a national reputation for curriculum development, the teaching of adult learners, and workforce development to accomplish the re-engineering of public agencies, nonprofit and for-profit corporations, in concert with the organizational/operational assessments performed by my workforce.  

 

Other demonstrated competencies include change-management, strategic planning, business plan development, quality control and compliance; the development of business policies and procedures; large  and small-group facilitation, securing federal/state/local MBE/WOB/HUBZone certification for small businesses; with success in grants writing, grants management and grant reporting associated with grants ranging in size from $5,000 to $100M+  with leverage achieving $1B+ in public-private investment for inner city redevelopment and community-building.

 

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This demonstrated track record included staff and board development for more than 20,000 housing and community development professionals, grassroot resident leaders, and the personnel of private nonprofit community development corporations. 

 

Such training was often accompanied by testing and professional certification recognized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (DHUD).  The classroom training was provided for working adults in their place of work; in university facilities; and during their participation in regional and national conferences.  

 

Illustratively, client groups included Meharry Medical College, Amoco Foundation/BP Global Social Investment, U.S. HUD, Rutgers University Center for Government Services, and hundreds of local Public Housing Authorities, state housing agencies and national housing trade organizations, such as the Nat'l Assn of Housing & Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), the Nat'l Association of Home Builders, Nat'l Assn of HUD-Management Agents (NAHMA), Natl Association of Resident Management Corporations (NARMC), dozens of state and regional associations amongst others.

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I have similarly accomplished extensive work experience and exposure with the women's advocacy and empowerment movement building national partnerships with such illustrious organizations as the Center for American Women in Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University, the Feminist Majority, national AARP, and the American Association of University Women. 

 

My passion for social and community change is demonstrated through the documented and long-term history with national and grassroots community organizations.  Such work was achieved with these committed local advocates to include local residents who live, work and volunteer their time, talents and energies to build stronger, safer communities and healthier families through such initiatives as the resident management of public housing; the start-up of resident-owned businesses, such as neighborhood job banks in urban centers like Atlanta, Chicago, Gary, Houston, New Orleans, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

 

These national grassroots organizations include the Nat'l Association of Resident Management Corporations, the National Tenants Organization, the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, and many local community economic development corporations such as WECAN (Chicago), 5th Ward Redevelopment Corp and Acres Homes, Inc. (Houston).

My current interests and work includes small business change-management, workforce development, curriculum development; training and distance learning with an emphasis in the fields of diversity & inclusion; and the resumption of my training for the under- and/or chronically unemployed with respect to skills-based and job readiness training. 

 

I continue to be engaged in small and large group facilitation for the improved governance and increased accountability of policy-making boards with fiduciary duty and the safeguarding of the public trust, through strategic planning, multi-cultural communications, and the increased understanding of appropriate levels of CEO and organizational oversight, with proper delegation of authority.

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In 2017 I was contracted to secure the ISO-9001 certification and re-engineering of a Maryland-based certified MBE who, in 2018, secured the nation's first awarded contract for MBE-participation in the emerging marketplace for offshore wind development as a provider of welding and fabrication services for wind turbine production and related steel components.

 

My professional and business development services now include the periodic training of staff, monthly reviews to assess  Risk; ongoing recommendations for constructing and managing audit-ready record-keeping and reporting systems; implementing protocols for ensuring contract compliance.