Chief Portfolio Officer Beth O’Leary leads a team of four who work closely with borrowers from the NeighborWorks Network, and oversees NC’s $100+ million loan portfolio. Beth has over 30 years of experience in affordable housing asset management, and organizational management focused on operational performance and leadership development. Get to know Beth better:
What keeps you interested in Community Development finance?
What drew me to this work when I first started in the Bronx is what keeps me interested today – the people who are working in communities to make lives better. Beyond that purpose, portfolio management brings new challenges on a daily and weekly basis, and I enjoy that variety as well as using our problem-solving skills in collaboration with our partners.
What is your personal mission? How will your work with NeighborWorks Capital advance that?
One aspect of my personal mission is to focus on people and support their leadership. As a team leader, I am fortunate to work with a dedicated group of people who are committed to personal and professional growth, as well as serving our customers and their goals to improve communities across the country. I take a great deal of satisfaction from empowering my team so we can accomplish more for our partners.
What drew you to NeighborWorks Capital?
From the earliest days of my career and in my various roles, I was aware of NeighborWorks America thanks to their leadership in training for the field of community development. Learning how NeighborWorks Capital supports the NWA network was important to me, as well as understanding the vision of the current strategic plan for growth, which requires development of systems to support our diverse portfolio of loans. That was a challenge that interested me and I’ve enjoyed being here, coming up on three years.
