About Us

Our Mission

To passionately set the standard for strengthening, revitalizing and preserving the identity and history of our communities through equitable and inclusive development.

Our Vision

Creating the standard for how an historic community preserves its cultural integrity and maintains an equitable quality of life.

Background & History

HDDC was founded in 1980 by Coretta Scott King, Christine King Farris and John Cox, with an original goal of restoring Martin Luther King Jr.’s National Historic District to the proud, economically diverse and viable neighborhood it once was. The challenge was to revitalize while maintaining the community’s character, celebrating its history, and preventing the displacement of long-term residents.

HDDC has always employed innovative approaches to revitalization. In the late 1990’s it pioneered the “block-by-block” development strategy by building new homes on vacant lots on the same streets where it rehabilitated existing dilapidated structures. The strategy became the catalyst for the revitalization of the entire neighborhood.
The organization has continued to build on its successes and has expanded its reach to work throughout the entire Old Fourth Ward neighborhood.

In 1992, Mtamanika Youngblood, a former BellSouth executive with an MBA from Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University), became the founding executive director of the nonprofit HDDC.

In her work with HDDC, she partnered with banks, developers, and community agencies to aid the neighborhood without displacing residents or sacrificing historic integrity. Salvageable homes were preserved and industrial spaces repurposed.
Today, we continue to carry on the mission established by our founders and leadership.

Our Executive Team

About Chenee

Cheneé Joseph is a community development professional with several years of project management, community and real estate development experience. She is the President & CEO of HDDC. With her profound expertise in housing and construction, she has been a driving force in the revitalization of the Auburn Avenue corridor in Atlanta. Prior to this role, Ms. Joseph served as a project consultant at Draper & Associates, where she managed budgets and schedules for various capital improvements and demolition projects totaling $17 million in the Atlanta Housing Authority (AHA) portfolio. She also held the Senior Manager of Neighborhood Revitalization position where she was instrumental in planning and implementing neighborhood stabilization and development projects and programs to meet the goals and strategies outlined in the HUD Choice Neighborhoods Transformation Plan for Ashview Heights, Vine City and the Atlanta University Center (AUC). Ms. Joseph is the past Chair of the Beltline Affordable Housing Advisory Board (BAHAB) which provides guidance to Invest Atlanta and the City of Atlanta on the goals and policies related to the use of the BeltLine Affordable Housing Trust Fund and monitors the location and availability of affordable housing throughout the BeltLine. She serves as Chair of Clean Sweep Frederiksted in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, Vice Chair of the Sweet Auburn Municipal Market and Treasurer of Canopy Atlanta.

Ms. Joseph is a 2023 German Marshall Memorial Fund Fellow, a graduate of the Urban Land Institute Center for Leadership (2016), Urban Land Institute’s Women’s Leadership Initiative awardee( 2021) LEAD Atlanta (2012), and the Atlanta Jewish Committee’s Marvin Goldstein’s Project Understanding (2010). She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Georgia State University and her master’s degree in building construction from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

About Ron

Ron Kirkpatrick brings over 30 years of commercial and residential real estate development and business operations and experience. Specifically, Mr. Kirkpatrick’s experience has encompassed developing hotels, affordable housing, apartment complexes, subdivisions, office buildings, retail shopping centers, senior living, and mixed-use projects. Mr. Kirkpatrick has actively been involved in developing properties for various organizations since his graduation form the University of Memphis.

About Nasim

Nasim Fluker is Vice President of Program Development at the Historic District Development Corporation (HDDC), where she leads community-centered initiatives that advance equitable development, arts and culture, entrepreneurship, and neighborhood engagement. A community relations strategist and founder of ThrdSpace, she brings more than two decades of experience building partnerships, designing impactful programs, and creating spaces that foster connection and belonging. Her work is rooted in preserving the cultural identity of communities while helping them thrive and evolve for future generations.