(Hamilton, NY – July 2015) The Board of Directors of the Partnership for Community Development has chosen Jennifer MarottoLutter to become the organization’s new Executive Director. She will begin Aug. 3, working from an office on the first floor of 11 Payne St.
MarottoLutter joins PCD from Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services, where she is project director for a national Sustainable Homeownership Project. Among her achievements at INHS, she wrote a $680,000 NYS Homes and Community Renewal Grant that is providing affordable housing in Tompkins County.
MarottoLutter is a graduate of The Ohio State University (College of Human Ecology) and Cornell University (Master of Regional Planning). During a two-year tour with the Peace Corps in The Gambia, West Africa, she managed a 15-member team that conducted grant-supported economic and community development projects.
Of her new assignment, MarottoLutter said: “”I’m very excited about the opportunity to work at PCD. The organization reflects many of my personal and professional values. I look forward to being involved in enhancing what is already a great place.”
“Jennifer’s colleagues and former faculty members praised her imagination, intelligence, work ethic, and ability to organize fellow workers and community members to achieve desired goals,” said PCD President Jim Leach, who chaired the search committee. “The search committee was especially impressed with her commitment to Upstate New York and to the principles of community-based planning and economic development.”
Incorporated in 1999 as a non-profit organization with a mission “to foster economic opportunity and community vitality” in and around the Village and Town of Hamilton, PCD is sponsored by the Village of Hamilton, Town of Hamilton, and Colgate University. PCD’s 10-member volunteer board includes representatives from across the community.
Gifts and grants from individuals, organizations, foundations, and government agencies have supported PCD’s work over the years, including main street revitalization; professional guidance, peer advising, and grant support for local farms and small businesses;communications and a visitors’ center promoting the community; a study of local housing; and staging events that enrich the community and attract visitors from outside the area.