Ava Gabrielle-Wise
GUEST SPEAKER
Ava Gabrielle-Wise is president and executive manager of the New Road Community Development Group. For nearly three decades, she has been committed to planning, community, and economic development in Virginia and around the southeast region of the U.S.
As a young, paid organizer in 1992, she worked to form the organization with her mother, the late Ruth Wise, and other members to serve the New Road community for which it is named. Together, they acquired and redeveloped the 30-acre neighborhood in the decade that followed.
Today, the New Road Community Development Group continues to develop affordable housing, advocate for strong public policy, and support the production of quality, affordable home solutions for citizens of the region.
She currently is the founding convener of the Eastern Shore Regional Housing Coalition, which is a forum of federal, state, and local leaders who are committed to increasing the scale of development and construction of affordable housing on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. She leads the development of the Legacy Plaza & Subdivision, a $12 million, single-family, multi-family housing and mixed-use development project in the community.
