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Meet the Team! Announcing Our New Shared Leadership Model

Meet the Team! Announcing our New Shared Leadership Model

The LUCHA Board of Directors is thrilled to announce the appointment of Lincoln Stannard and Lillian Bui to the shared leadership roles of Co-Executive Directors. Each will devote their time and experience to executive leadership responsibilities, bringing their unique skill-sets to bear.

Lincoln, who first came to LUCHA in 2017, will continue to lead LUCHA’s affordable housing development and property management work. Lillian, who also serves as Senior Director for Strategic Initiatives for Association House, will play a critical role in integrating operations and maximizing the benefits of the formal alliance announced last week.

Since January 2024, LUCHA has been actively practicing shared leadership, leaning on the unique strengths of our Board of Directors and Executive team members. Through this, we were reminded that the best decisions are made collectively. Together we broke down silos and worked to solve some of today’s most challenging housing issues.  The Board continues this momentum by appointing Lillian and Lincoln to these critical roles and by continuing to include community– including low-income and Spanish-speaking households– into all of LUCHA’s community development processes.

Meet the Team!

Bui is an experienced nonprofit leader and accomplished fundraiser. Since arriving at Association House of Chicago in 2021, Bui has doubled the size of the development and marketing team and secured more than $3.2 million in new government funding. Her collaborative and strategic approach drives efficiencies and growth. Bui is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and earned a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. She came to know this community first as an Americorps member at the former Lafayette Elementary School. And while she jokes that her fundraising work dates back to her years as a Girl Scout, her first formal role was with Habitat for Humanity, where she lived into their mission of building homes, communities and hope. Bui also serves as a board member with Corazon Community Services. Outside of work, you can catch her cheering on the Malcolm X Lady Hawks, where her niece plays basketball.

Stannard is a passionate community development practitioner and housing advocate. Over seven years with LUCHA, he has overseen accomplishments including the completion of Tierra Linda and the groundbreaking of Encuentro Square. As Director of Community Development, he has grown a project pipeline with the greatest number of units under development in LUCHA’s history. He brings a mission-centered approach, strong analytical skills and deep experience with a variety of project types and financing models. Lincoln began his career at the Chicago Community Loan Fund, where he managed construction lending for the City of Chicago’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program. He holds a Grow America Economic Development Finance Professional certification. Born and raised on Chicago’s West Side, Lincoln has called Logan Square home for 14 years. He has been active in local housing justice and tenant organizing projects, including time spent on the boards of the Here to Stay Land Trust and Somos Logan Square. An avid biker, his favorite destination in the city right now is the Montrose moonrise observation point on the lakefront.

“LUCHA has been one of the centerpieces of creative thinking regarding affordable housing for decades on Chicago’s north side.  Born out of political struggles in the greater Humboldt Park area, it has never lost its activist side as it continues to fight for public policies on behalf of folks who face displacement or income shortfalls.  The services and programs that we offer for our tenants who are single mothers, for instance, represent the sort of ethical commitment that roots our organization.  And more recently our building of a passive house points to another ethical commitment: the planet itself.   We look forward to this opportunity to strengthen the work of both LUCHA and Association House Chicago.  Our remarkable new leaders, Lillian Bui and Lincoln Stannard, are ready to shape our future,” says Ralph Cintrón, Board Member at LUCHA.

“From its beginnings by community activists of the Puerto Rican diaspora seeking to stabilize their homes and their communities, to the creation of the first ‘passive house’ -certified multi-family building in the Midwest, LUCHA has always been at the forefront of housing activism and community development in the greater Humboldt Park community.  By strategically allying with Association House of Chicago, another community anchor, and naming Lillian and Lincoln as Co-Executive Directors, we are ensuring that both community voice and best-in-class innovation remain key pillars of LUCHA’s work and mission,” adds Juan Carlos, Association House’s President and CEO.

 

LUCHA Joins Long-time Partner Association House in Alliance 

LUCHA Joins Long-time Partner Association House in Alliance

LUCHA has always been known for our resilience, our fight, and our relentless pursuit of housing done differently – with the best in building practices, strong community voice, and embedded services for residents. 

Today, we are thrilled to announce a new formal alliance with Association House, a long-standing community partner. This alliance will open up a fully integrated continuum of services for LUCHA residents, while allowing LUCHA to deepen our affordable housing development work. 

Conversations with Association House began nearly a year ago, as LUCHA experienced a leadership transition and sought to stabilize operations for long-term sustainability. Quickly, the conversation became, “how might we do more, together?” 

Association House staff and board tour LUCHA’s properties.
Association House staff and board tour LUCHA’s properties.

Association House, operating in Chicago’s West Side for 125 years, is well-known for their collaborative, multi-service model advancing health, education, and economic opportunity. As this alliance moves forward, LUCHA’s community and client-based services, like housing counseling, legal assistance, and resident engagement will continue under the Association House umbrella, bringing a united suite of services to LUCHA residents and the wider community. 

Moving forward, LUCHA’s focus becomes its signature housing development work, led by newly named co-Executive Directors Lincoln Stannard and Lillian Bui. With the backing of Association House, LUCHA will continue to operate nearly 200 affordable rental units while growing its pipeline of innovative, people-centered projects.

“LUCHA and Association House of Chicago are both long-standing organizations that serve IL-03. I applaud all efforts to ensure they are both strong, sustainable institutions able to continue serving our community. I am grateful to the leadership of both organizations for their collaboration on this forward-looking effort,” said Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez.

LUCHA residents will soon benefit from integrated Association House programs and services.
LUCHA residents will soon benefit from integrated Association House programs and services.

“Coming out of the pandemic, it is more important than ever that nonprofits operate in a forward-looking manner. This partnership stabilizes operations in the quickly evolving affordable housing development space, while enhancing service offerings across the board,” explains Juan Carlos Linares, Association House’s President & CEO. 

Our supporters may remember, Juan Carlos previously served as Executive Director of LUCHA from 2013-2019, where he oversaw the award-winning Tierra Linda development. 

“With Encuentro Square opening and other exciting projects right behind it, LUCHA’s housing work has never been more vital or more needed. We have always fought to create homes where families can thrive. It’s incredibly exciting to imagine how this partnership can enhance tenant outcomes, while enabling LUCHA to sustain the mission we’ve had for decades: advance housing as a human right by building and preserving housing that’s rooted in our community’s needs and adds to the vibrancy and resilience of our neighborhoods,” adds Lincoln Stannard, Co-Executive Director and Senior Director of Community Development.

2023 UnidosUs Annual Conference

2023 UnidosUs Annual Conference

Our very own Janece Ortiz and Guille León were part of the 2023 UnidosUs Annual Conference.

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Encuentro Square

Encuentro Square

We closed on Encuentro Square!

Today’s closing marks the end of the first part of the work for the first phase of this project.  We cannot overstate how much work Lincoln, and before him, Charlene have done on this project.  Thank you all for all the ways, big and small, you have supported this project, with particular thanks to Jane.

I drove by the site earlier today, and will do so again when I leave the office, to take a moment to visualize the first 89 units of this project completed and the first families moving in.  You allmight remember that it was LUCHA (namely Charlene and Maria), who came up with the name Encuentro Square, to remind us of all the things that are coming together in this project. 

Reflecting on the difficulty of getting to this point, I am holding on in particular to the future joy of families who will be brought together into stable, affordable housing and community in this development.

There is still more work to be done, both on this first phase of the project and the next phase, so let’s get ready!

Lissette Castañeda, Executive Director

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