 Warren Conner Development Coalition Acting as a catalyst to improve the quality of life on Detroit’s Eastside….
Created in 1984 as a Community Development Coalition….
The Warren/Conner Development Coalition (WCDC) was founded by Eastside Detroit leaders in 1984. It is a Michigan non-profit community development organization, with federal 50l©3 tax exempt status. WCDC is structured through its by-laws as a coalition of residents and neighborhood organizations, businesses and business associations, and institutions.
Target Area….
WCDC’s primary target area, especially for its physical revitalization efforts, is an area generally defined as Alter Road on the East, I-94 on the North, Jefferson on the South and Van Dyke on the West. Over time, WCDC’s human service programs operate citywide, with a primary focus on the Eastside from Woodward east to the city limits.
Corporate Restructuring and Organizational Change…
From 1984 until late 2005, WCDC was the sponsor of multiple programs. In 2005, these programs were restructured into wholly-owned non profit tax exempt subsidiaries of WCDC, each with its own separate boards and executive leadership. WCDC converted itself into a “parent corporation” for these organizations. This partnership – among the parent corporation and affiliate partners – is now called the “WCDC Family of Corporations.”
This change was made by the WCDC Board of Directors to facilitate these goals:
To strengthen, nurture and increase board and staff leadership
To allow WCDC’s many initiatives to grow qualitatively in their own right
To provide for a more effective and sustainable structure as WCDC becomes a more mature organization and its leaders move on
To give funders opportunities to target their funding more directly to one of WCDC’s many mission-related efforts
Key Roles….
WCDC serves as “parent corporation” to several Affiliate Partner organizations, each of which has its own mission, board of directors and executive leadership. In its role as parent corporation, WCDC is the sole shareholder of most of its Affiliate Partners’ corporations. WCDC plays these critical roles:
Advocate, Community Educator, in partnership with its Affiliate Partners
Provider of common “back office” services to its Affiliate Partners including financial management, office space, human resources management, IT and office administration, communications and strategic planning, and fund development.
Facilitator and/or fiduciary agent for multi-organization collaborations.
Governing Bodies…
WCDC is governed by a Board of Directors that represents a cross section of residents, businesses, institutions, and organizations. The Board of Directors is elected by the members each year. Voting members are dues-paying members who live, work, volunteer or do business on Detroit’s Eastside.
The Boards of Directors of WCDC’s Affiliate Partners are appointed by concurrence of each respective Affiliate Partner Board of Directors and the WCDC Board of Directors, with legal approval by the WCDC Board.
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