Bob Woodson Biography

Robert L. Woodson, Sr. is Founder and President of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise. Often referred to as the “godfather” of the movement to empower neighborhood-based organizations, Bob Woodson’s social activism dates back to the 1960s, when as a young civil rights activist, he developed and coordinated national and local community development programs. During the 70’s he directed the National Urban League’s Administration of Justice division. Later he served as a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and participated in the Mediating Structures Project. For more than four decades, he has promoted the principles of self-help and neighborhood empowerment and the importance of the institutions of civil society. Dedicating his life to helping low-income people of all races address the problems of their communities, he has opposed those who use the issue of race as a weapon or a shield.

In 1981, Woodson founded the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (known then as the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise) for the purpose of strengthening and advocating for those neighborhood-based organizations struggling to serve their communities. The Center has provided training and capacity-building technical assistance to more than 2600 leaders of community-based groups in 39 states. He was instrumental in paving the way for resident management and ownership of public housing, and brought together task forces of grassroots groups to advise the 104^th Congress, the Pennsylvania Legislature, and the Wisconsin Assembly. The youth violence reduction program he created called the Violence-Free Zone is effectively reducing violence in 32 of the nation’s most troubled schools, with sites in Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Milwaukee, and Richmond, VA.

He has profoundly influenced the way people think about the strengths of low-income people. But more than just philosophy, he has promoted measurable results and living examples that provide proof of his principles in reclaimed lives and restored communities.

Bob Woodson has been a winner of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur “genius” Award, the Bradley Prize, the Presidential Citizens Award, and many other honors and awards.

He is the author of Youth Crime and Urban Policy, A View From the Inner City (1981), On the Road to Economic Freedom: An Agenda for Black Progress,(1987), A Summons to Life, Mediating Structures and the Prevention of Youth Crime,(1988), and The Triumphs of Joseph: How Today’s Community Healers are Reviving Our Streets and Neighborhoods (1998 and paperback 2008).

Address: 1625 K Street, NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20006. Phone: 202-518-6500. FAX: 202-588-0314.