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NeighborWorks® America honors long-time community development leader with 2026 Founders Award
Washington, D.C. ( April 21, 2026) — Marcia Erickson, co-founder and co-CEO of GROW South Dakota, is the recipient of the 2026 NeighborWorks Founders Award, NeighborWorks® America has announced.
“I have had the pleasure of working alongside Marcia and seeing firsthand the growth of GROW South Dakota under her leadership and the lasting impact of her work across communities,” said Marietta Rodriguez, President & CEO of NeighborWorks America. “Marcia is deeply deserving of the Founders Award. Her leadership has not only expanded opportunity across South Dakota but has helped shape stronger communities and a more resilient field. We are proud to recognize her legacy and the meaningful difference she has made in people’s lives.”
NeighborWorks presents the award each year to a current or former leader from the organization or its network who has greatly improved the affordable housing and community development field. Recipients are chosen for their enduring legacies, their innovation and their dedication to the values that contributed to the formation of NeighborWorks America, a Congressionally chartered nonprofit that creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities. Erickson was nominated for the award by Lori Finnesand, who leads GROW South Dakota with her.
“It's incredible to stand alongside so many dedicated and highly skilled professionals across the U.S. and receive the Founders Award,” Erickson said. “It is something I never imagined I would be receiving as someone from a small, rural town. I can't express how grateful I am and thankful that GROW South Dakota is a part of the NeighborWorks network.”
Erickson grew up on a cattle farm in South Dakota, where neighbors step up to help others, a value that stayed with her. “I love seeing the difference we make in people's lives,” she said. “This job found me. This career found me. I settled into it and grew with GROW South Dakota.”
In a large number of communities in South Dakota, Erickson can drive down the main streets and see businesses that would not be there without her organization, as well as homes that have been improved or built. Her work has generated a transformative, positive change for housing and commercial development across the state.
Erickson started working for Northeast SD Community Action (now doing business as GROW South Dakota) in September 1988. Her leadership brought the organization from serving a 17-county area to serving the entire state – an expansion that started as a project for NeighborWorks Achieving Excellence Program, a leadership training program. The expansion grew the agency’s combined assets from $20 million to a collective $118 million and provided access to funding for veterans, down payment assistance, loan capital for housing and business lending, along with many direct services to individuals.
The organization also made a lasting impact on the Oglala Lakota County School District, utilizing New Market Tax Credits to construct or renovate four schools. And Erickson’s testimony on ways to meet the needs of rural residents led to resources being directed to rural areas.
She has served on local, state, and national boards including National NeighborWorks Association, Housing Assistance Council, Rural Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Region 8 Community Action Association, and the Federal Home Loan Bank Des Moines Advisory Council.
“GROW South Dakota nominated Marcia for this Founders Award because of the many contributions she's made over the 35-plus years she's been with the organization,” Finnesand said. “The organization truly would not be where it is without her leadership and her contributions have not only been seen locally, but statewide and nationally.”
Erickson said the job isn’t one she can do alone and credited support from an amazing staff, board of directors, peer organizations, and partners.
“We're helping businesses so that our communities can be self-sufficient,” she said. “We're helping homeowners get into homes so our communities can thrive and people have a quality of life that they love – that I grew up with. It's been a wonderful experience living in rural America.”
The Founders Award will be presented April 23 at the NeighborWorks Executive Symposium in Washington, D.C.
About NeighborWorks America
For nearly 50 years, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp., a Congressionally chartered national nonprofit known as NeighborWorks® America, has strived to make every community safer and more prosperous. Our network of excellence includes nearly 250 nonprofits in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and on Native lands. NeighborWorks offers grant funding, peer exchange, technical assistance, evaluation tools and access to best-in-class training as the nation's leading trainer of housing and community development professionals. NeighborWorks network organizations build homes and apartments, expanding the supply of affordable housing in every community; provide financial counseling and coaching that increases self-sufficiency; encourage resident leadership, and collaborate with local stakeholders in the areas of health, economic development, employment and education. In Fiscal Year 2025, for every dollar received from Congress, NeighborWorks network and NeighborWorks America attracted an additional $74 of investment from other sources.
For more information, visit neighborworks.org.
