ROCKFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY’S TEN CORE VALUES- Leadership

The Rockford Housing Authority (RHA) operates on the foundation of ten core values. As mentioned in their mission and vision statements, these qualities drive the organization through each project they complete. These values are denoted in the list below:

• Leadership
• Respectful
• Quality
• Accountable
• Integrity
• Consistent
• Resourcefulness
• Caring
• Collaborative
• Professional

This blog series will define each of these values and explain how they relate to RHA’s work.

LEADERSHIP

RHA has been advancing the futures of Rockford community members for the past 65 years. This success is largely due to the efforts of our organization’s leadership. RHA is governed by a board of five commissioners: Jerry Lumpkins, Phyllis Ginestra, Ricardo Cervantes, Alice Jenkins and Karen Hoffman.  Each of these individuals was appointed by the governing mayor of Rockford and serves a term of five years. This board is responsible for carrying through the vision and mission of RHA, as well as appointing the board officers each year.

We have a current total of 64 employees serving our organization. Each one of them performs essential day to day functions. Their fierce dedication to RHA is crucial to our continued success.  These employees serve in one of eight departments: finance, human services, human resources, community relations, housing policy management, resident services management, maintenance and physical assets and quality assurance.

Our board of directors ensures that the Rockford Housing Authority continues to run efficiently and effectively. Strong leadership is imperative to the continued success of the organization and the success of the individuals our work effects.  But what, exactly, does good leadership look like and why is it important?

To us, effective leadership consists of industry expertise and community experience, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. The demand for good leaders is always high. Why? Because we live in an ever changing world and community. We need leaders to push others to aspire to be leaders. Through this we make advancements, break thoughts, and new standards. This is extremely important for the procurement of our society. RHA defines this by example we break the old standards and set new ones and push people to become leaders, bettering our community and the people living in it. This is what leadership looks like, addressing the needs of your constituents, doing, empowering, being creative and in a sense breaking the mold. RHA hopes to inspire others to do so also and become leaders.

EXPERTISE

The leadership staff has extensive experience in a multitude of disciplines including: marketing, international social work, psychology, physical education, business administration and property maintenance, to name a few. Their experience comes from a multitude of highly regarded universities as well as the United States Navy.

Our teammates have used their academic and professional experiences to aid others across the world. Their professional pursuits have led them to places such as North Carolina, Washington D.C., Hawaii, Rhode Island, Ecuador and Japan.  These experiences have enriched their qualifications and aided them in serving the Rockford community in a more well-rounded fashion.

EXPERIENCE

As extensive as our leadership board’s foreign experiences are, they also boast a similarly comprehensive experience in the  Rockford community.  We have had employees serve on the Rockford City Council, serve as the 6^th Ward democratic representative, as a founding member of the Holy Family Scrip program, as a member of the RAVE authority board, as a Rockford Metro Center stagehand and maintenance engineer, as well as the Rockford Christian high school and Boylan high school  basketball coach. One of our board officers is also currently running a family locksmith company that has served the city of Rockford for over 100 years.

Many of our board of commissioner and leadership board members have spent the majority of their lives in the Rockford area.  Some are second and third generation Rockford residents, while many others are alumni from community educational institutions such as Rockford Lutheran, Rock Valley College and Rockford University.

These extensive experiences in the Rockford community have provided RHA’s leaders with a comprehensive understanding of the difficulties facing the community, the opportunities for improvement and engraved in them an appreciation for community traditions.

Rockford Housing Authority is proud to boast the extensive expertise and experience of our leadership and commissioner boards. However, we are even more delighted to see how these qualifications can further lead RHA’s endeavors and serve the Rockford community.