Urban Edge names Dorcely as new CEO

Boston, MA According to Urban Edge, Emilio Dorcely has been named the organization’s new CEO. Dorcely will assume this role on September 30^th. 

“We’re excited to announce that Emilio Dorcely will be taking over the reins here at Urban Edge,” said Natacha Dunker, president of Urban Edge’s board of directors. “He brings with him a wealth of experience about community development, but also new ideas and innovative thinking on structural change and strengthening neighborhoods.”

“Urban Edge has a rich history, which started as a grassroots response to policy and structural changes in the community,” said Dorcely. “I am looking forward to building on that history and to finding ways to promote systemic change while also developing innovative ways to meet the needs of people living in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.”

Dorcely was appointed the president and CEO of Bridge Street Development Corp., a community development corporation in Brooklyn, NY, in 2012. While there, in addition to building affordable housing and promoting home ownership, he has focused on organizing and working with community members to build infrastructure and empower their engagement in the community process.

Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, Dorcely has held a variety of positions in community development and philanthropic organizations. Prior to Bridge Street, Dorcely worked with the Association of Black Foundation Executives, in the executive office of the mayor of Washington, DC, and for the Rhode Island Foundation, among other positions. He is an alumnus of the State University of New York at Oswego and holds a JD from the University of Iowa College of Law.

For 45 years, Urban Edge has offered a range of innovative programs that help low and moderate income families in and around Boston become economically resilient, establish homeownership, and access needed community resources. Throughout its history, the organization has developed nearly 1,500 units of affordable housing, making it one of Boston’s largest nonprofit developers of affordable housing. Most recently, Urban Edge opened Walker Park Apartments, which brought 49 new affordable housing units across two buildings in the Egleston Square neighborhood of Roxbury. That project cost $18.5 million to build.

“We are looking forward to working with Emilio. We also want to thank Marty Jones for her service as interim CEO,” said Dunker. “Marty has done a wonderful job maintaining the organization, especially during the difficult moments this past December when families at Academy Homes experienced a crisis in natural gas service. We’re pleased she is staying with us through this transition.”