Catalyzing Community Driven Development in Kensington

Dr. Bill McKinney serves as the Executive Director of the New Kensington Community Development Corporation whose mission is to advance social equity & economic empowerment by nurturing and creating opportunities for residents to live in, and actively shape, their neighborhoods of choice.

A 20 year resident of Kensington, Dr. McKinney has researched, written and presented extensively but not exclusively on Philadelphia and Kensington on topics of race, equity and economic justice, education, health, , incarceration and re-entry, addiction and recovery, emergent non-profit support and community institutions such as libraries and settlement houses.

Prior to joining NKCDC Dr. McKinney served as executive vice president and director of research and evaluation at The Food Trust, and prior to The Food Trust he served as Director of the Howard Samuels Center at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, leading research and public policy efforts to increase civic engagement and community participation.

Dr. McKinney has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Temple University, a Master’s degree in Applied Anthropology from the University of Maryland, and a B.A. in Anthropology from Cleveland State University, and in keeping with NKCDC’s vision for trauma-informed community development, he has certifications in Trauma Informed Care and Enhanced Trauma Awareness.