Dr. Alexander Von Hoffman is a professor at Harvard University who has dedicated his academic career researching the history of Community Development Corporations (CDC’s) across the United States since the late 1960s. The NALCAB research team reached out to Dr. Von Hoffman at the beginning of this project to gain a better understanding of the overall CDC movement which has helped guide their research and the direction of subsequent oral histories.

Interview Summary

In this interview, Dr. Von Hoffman shares his knowledge of the evolution of Community Development Corporations and the political history of civil rights programming at the federal level. Von Hoffman talks about how the emergence of intermediary corporations, private foundations, and asset building models of non-profit work has diversified the financial pool for the growth of CDC’s. 

Key Terms

Civil rights, community development, Ford Foundation, War on Poverty, LISC, asset building, non-profit

Date: July 23, 2020

Interviewers: Former president of NALCAB Noel Poyo, Dr. Gerald Poyo, and Victoria Villaseñor