Congratulations to Colleen Hafner, Interim Executive Director of Rise Community Development, recipient of our 2024 Transparency & Trust Award.
The Transparency & Trust Award recognizes a person who:
Works with honesty and openness and isn’t afraid to be vulnerable, especially when things don’t go as planned.
Co-creates work with the people and partners they serve and works to build shared trust so that all at the table feel supported and valued as part of the process.
Embraces mistakes and weaknesses in the open as opportunities to learn and grow.
In her career, Colleen Hafner has touched nearly every side of the community development landscape, serving on multiple boards and committees, executing advocacy efforts for affordable housing policy change, working directly with property managers, and now serving as Executive Director of Rise Community Development. These experiences and many more have all shaped Colleen’s holistic approach to leadership within the field which emphasizes the importance of collaboration, relationship building, and trust. “We are only successful when we collaborate. There’s so much more positive momentum when we collaborate than when we compete.”
With heart and integrity to match her expertise, Colleen has seen a number of successes in her career, particularly in the 2021 creation of Rise CDFI which continues to grow in its capacity to fill the need for flexible access to capital for community development. “The CDFI is a way to address economic justice in real time. It can break down a lot of barriers for people and propel them to a much greater scale.” Colleen’s open and vulnerable approach to this work has been a powerful force for bridging the gaps in trust that create barriers to achieving shared goals. Colleen envisions a St. Louis “where we don't live our lives on one side or the other of a dividing line, where we flow throughout our community, physically and socially,” and her transparent and thoughtful approach to this end serves as a reminder that “rebuilding trust is always worth it, and establishing trust is never a waste of time.”
