Gwen O’Shea is the President & CEO of the Community Development Corporation of Long Island. She oversees the 51-year-old regional non-profit with three non-profit affiliates and numerous for-profit subsidiaries, over $31 million in assets, an annual budget of $35 million and a staff of 87. CDCLI strives to strengthen homes, communities and individuals.
CDCLI serves over 20,000 individuals annually through a variety of business lines: Rental Assistance, Resident Services, The Home Ownership Center, Home Improvement and Optimization and Real Estate Development. CDCLI’s Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) provides critical capital to under financed communities; supporting multi-family developments, homeowners and individuals. Currently, over $10 million is deployed in loan funds.
CDCLI is a co-venture partner in fifteen multifamily tax credit complexes representing over 2000 apartments, with an additional 278 in pre-development. CDCLI has developed 235 single family affordable for sale subdivisions and currently managed 47 single-family scattered site rental properties.
As a chartered member of NeighborWorks®(a congressionally chartered nonprofit organization that supports community development), CDCLI is recognized as an “exemplary organization,” meeting a high standard of fiscal integrity and service performance to assist local residents in achieving their dreams.
Prior to joining CDCLI in March 2017, Gwen served as the President & CEO of HWCLI for 10 years. She was the first female executive of the umbrella organization that advocates for the rights of those most vulnerable and at-risk.
From 2006-2012, Gwen was an Adjunct Professor at LIU for the Graduate Programs of Social Work & Health Care & Public Administration.
Gwen serves as a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York’s Housing Advisory Council, is an Executive Member of the New York State Neighborworks Alliance and is a Board Member of the Long Island Federally Qualified Health Centers.
Gwen received her MS from the Milano School of International Affairs, Management & Urban