Full Name
Tiffany Smith
Job Title
Director
Company
Hartland Next
Speaker Bio
Tiffany Smith is a Consultant with Heartland Next, a Black and woman-owned public affairs and marketing agency dedicated to fostering a better future for communities. As a second-generation resident of Chicago's South Side Chatham neighborhood, she brings a personal understanding of the importance of homeownership in creating healthy, vibrant communities. Tiffany firmly believes that homeownership is the primary building block for wealth generation, a philosophy that informs her approach to community development and neighborhood strategies.

Previously, Tiffany served as the Associate Director of Southside Neighborhood Strategies & Operations at Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago (NHS). In this role, she developed and implemented innovative strategies to promote homeownership and community vibrancy. Her approach included:

• Developing innovative homeowner education programs to preserve generational wealth, address heirship challenges, and promote healthy households.
• Designing and promoting grant programsto reduce the cost of homeownership, improve housing stock, and encourage effective estate planning.
• Implementing positive marketing initiatives to drive reinvestment in divested communities.
• Highlighting the unintended impact of well-intentioned policies contributing to the decline of Black Middle Neighborhoods.

Before her tenure at NHS, Tiffany honed her engagement skills by designing and implementing outsourced customer engagement solutions for prestigious clients such as *The New York Times* and *The Washington Post*. Her efforts resulted in increased user engagement, improved customer satisfaction, enhanced retention rates, and facilitated organic growth.

Tiffany holds a B.S. in Organizational Behavior from Northwestern University, which provides her with a strong foundation for understanding human dynamics within organizational settings.

With her unique blend of professional experience, educational background, and personal commitment to community development, Tiffany Smith empowers residents to buy, fix, and maintain their homes, contributing to communities' overall health and wealth. At the Reclaiming Vacant Properties Conference session on "Preserving Middle Neighborhoods," she will share valuable insights on revitalizing neighborhoods and promoting sustainable homeownership.