Meet Heather

Specializing in working with government, community & business leaders to design customized, “homegrown” solutions to address local housing and community development needs, Heather Presley-Cowen brings more than 25 years of housing & economic development-related experience to communities seeking to grow and thrive in today’s tough economic environment.  After nearly two decades of working with the City of Fort Wayne as its senior executive responsible for directing, developing, and planning the overall housing and neighborhood development strategies for the Fort Wayne area, in 2010 Heather was encouraged to put her experience to work helping other communities and created CED Services, an Indiana certified minority-owned women’s business enterprise. 

 

Presley-Cowen’s work with improving performance in local government has been highlighted in publications regarding government efficiency and productivity. Her work with improving development permitting processes can be found in publications by Quality guru Michael George’s books on Six Sigma and in former Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard’s book, “Performance is the Best Politics”.  Heather’s work in developing Fort Wayne’s rental housing policies was highlighted in a National Housing Conference article on promising practices with the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. More recently, Presley-Cowen’s work in setting the table for downtown development was highlighted in the January 2017 issue of Novogradac’s Journal of Tax Credits.  Presley-Cowen is also a featured presenter at numerous professional membership organizations and guest commentary in business articles on the various housing & community development-related topics. 

 

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

• Bachelor of Business Administration, Indiana Wesleyan University

• Master of Management with emphasis in Leadership, Indiana Wesleyan University

 

CREDITIALS/DESIGNATIONS

• Administration, Regulations, and Rental Housing Compliance (Consultant Level), HUD

 

YEARS OF EXPERIENCE - 25