Lynne Cunningham has served as the President and CEO of the Southeast Chicago Development Commission (SCDCom) since 1983. SCDCom is a community economic development corporation, established by business and community leaders in 1981. SCDCom's mission is to create economic opportunity in the far southeast Chicago area, which was devastated by the contraction of the steel industry and recession the late 1970's and 1980's. Under Ms. Cunningham’s leadership, SCDCom has placed more than 500 individuals in jobs with local and metropolitan based firms, moderated the strategic planning process in the Calumet and Burnside Industrial Corridors, identified and facilitated the use of manufacturing by-products by local businesses, and created real estate development and shopping center-like management strategies to revitalize neighborhood business districts and attract additional retailers. SCDCom helped initiate a special service area taxing district to provide funding for daily maintenance and development and planning services in the Commercial Avenue business district. In addition, SCDCom has organized over 75% of eligible property owners on Commercial Avenue to renovate their storefronts using private funds, the City's Rebate Program, and Special Service Area funds. SCDCom also publishes and distributes The Southeast Chicago Observer to 20,000 households twenty times each year. Most recently, as part of the New Communities Program, SCDCom is working with residents to develop a Quality of Life Plan that provides a blueprint for enabling residents to achieve the maximum benefit from redevelopment efforts.

Christie L. Gillespie has served as the Executive Director of the Indiana Association for Community Economic Development (IACED) since January 1999. IACED is a statewide association of organizations who rebuild distressed communities in Indiana through housing rehabilitation and construction; employment generating activities; real estate development, industrial and small business; and social services. IACED supports its members through the provision of training and technical assistance; public policy advocacy; research and public awareness of the community economic development and facilitating networking among practitioners. IACED is partnering with the Indianapolis Coalition for Neighborhood Development (ICND) to provide administrative leadership for Indianapolis development activities. From March 1995 to December 1998, Ms. Gillespie was the Executive Director of the Community Alliance of the Far Eastside (CAFÉ), a community development corporation serving the Far Eastside neighborhood in Indianapolis, where she managed and implemented a $1 million private grant that funded a variety of community development activities. CAFÉ is a comprehensive organization that addresses issues ranging from economic development to youth services to neighborhood organizing.

Jennifer C. Green works for the City of Indianapolis as the Project Manager for the Fall Creek Place project. As Project Manager, she serves as the primary city liaison to the developer and provides oversight of the day-to-day activities involved with the project, such as relocation, site preparation, acquisition, rehab and demolition. She provides information to the surrounding neighborhood associations and the Steering Committee, cultivates and monitors relationships toward the success of the Fall Creek Place project, provides communication linkage between the city and King Park and engages in homebuyer development activities. In the past, Ms. Green worked as a Project Controller for Clarian Health, in charge of the accounting and project management of the long range facility plan, managing over $109 million and 300,000 additional square feet. Ms. Green also worked as an Asset Manager for East Side Community Investments, overseeing the finances of thirteen partnerships and over 200 low income housing tax credit housing units.