Top of the class: Roy Nash has taken more NeighborWorks training than anyone

While NeighborWorks America officially got its start 45 years ago, the first big NeighborWorks Training Institute (NTI) wasn't held until 1987, with the goal of offering affordable housing and community development staff a concentrated way to learn more about the things they knew — and the things they didn't. NeighborWorks' classes helped staff hone their skills and do more. So many people — 79,000 both inside the NeighborWorks network and out of it — have attended NTIs and stand-alone courses since NeighborWorks started keeping track in 2003. And we thought it would be fun to see who'd taken the most. 

The answer, according to NeighborWorks' Corporate Strategy and Impact Division: Roy Nash, executive director of NeighborWorks Waco. 

"Really?" said Nash, when he heard this news. "It's me? I'm the winner?" But no one else who learned that Nash has the top numbers seemed at all surprised. 

Nash has attended 62 NTIs, not counting the first one he attended in Washington, D.C. in  August 2002, the year he became executive director at NeighborWorks Waco. He is followed by Lou Tisler, executive director of the National NeighborWorks Association, and Roland Chupik, executive director of Neighborhood Housing Services of Oklahoma, at 49 each. 

Nash has taken a whopping 237 courses since 2003, followed by Alexis Collins of Orlando Neighborhood Improvement Corporation (189) and Maria Garciaz, CEO of NeighborWorks Salt Lake (164). Many of those courses have been at NTIs, but they also included Community Leadership Institutes; smaller, place-based training events; and online classes. 

Nash even taught a course at the NTI on how to build a house. In his family's business, which focused on wholesale building and material supplies, Nash had introduced the idea of pre-constructing wall panels. With them, people could build the framing for a small home, slab to roof, in just a day. "I was the color commentary guy for the class," says Nash, whose family owned the business from 1890 until 2008. 

What no one has kept track of over the years — including Nash — is how many committee meetings he's attended. "My motto is that the world is ruled by the folks who show up," he says. "Not that I want to rule the world exactly, but if you don't show up, you're not going to be a factor." 

Nash worked as a manager at the Kaufman Chamber of Commerce in Texas before moving into city management. He spent 10 years in the family business and also worked in real estate before taking on the executive post at NeighborWorks Waco. Nonprofit work is where a barrage of post-college career placement tests had told him he belonged.

Before what will be his 63rd NTI in a couple of weeks, we asked Nash some questions about training over the years, and how he came to attend so many classes. 

What kind of student are you?  

"I always sit in the front of the class. I want to be a good participant but also a good listener. When you sit in the front, you're absorbed in what they're teaching. If I sit in the back, I see all that goes on in a room and can lose the thread once in a while." 

Best class?  

"One I just had in San Francisco in 2023 on post-purchase homeownership  with JoAnn DePenning and Lori Hall. They did the perfect job. They had us divvied up so we were all sitting with someone new. They knew how to run an effective class on an important topic, about how to buy a home and keeping it as an asset that will appreciate over the long term. And they were both very funny. That helps a class – to be able to be comical when needed." Nash says  NeighborWorks' symposia are also a highlight, when everyone comes together to discuss a timely topic like the upcoming health equity symposium.  

Best city for an NTI?  

That would have to be cities, plural. "I've liked San Francisco and Chicago and D.C. itself. Oh, and Memphis and Nashville – those were good. And New Orleans. I'm not a drinker but that was exciting, to be in a place that's really known for being a fun city." For years, he tried to get NeighborWorks to hold an NTI in Dallas, which they finally did in 2006. "Dallas is a great city." 

Do you feel like networking and peer learning are important?  

"No question. One of my main reasons for wanting to attend trainings is to meet people." Though some of the people he's met have retired, at one point, he says, "I knew virtually every executive director in the country that's in the network, and sometimes their No. 2." Once he does meet them, he says, he can follow up on shared obstacles – and shared solutions.  

Biggest takeaway, early on?  

"I was very impressed with NeighborWorks' system of training, the way they vetted instructors. All were first class." His first courses were about low-to-moderate income housing, HUD, and housing counseling. "Anything with HUD was new to me, because I hadn't been involved in low-income housing." But he also took courses on how to put together a construction team, property management and more. 

Special moments?  

"The CLI has been the most meaningful, outside of the classroom activities. Talking to folks who are really living that experience? That's always meaningful." 

Why do you keep coming back?  

"When you quit learning, you might as well step aside and quit. I'm one who is a lifetime learner. There's always something to learn you didn't know." 

What do you want to learn about next? 

"I believe we really need to explore thoroughly affordable housing options for families. We have such an affordable housing crisis now. We need to all share areas in which we're having success to meet families' needs. We're also seeing an increase in homelessness in our country. We need to come together and explore options for assisting those who are not comfortably housed. That's a big concern right now." 

Final thoughts before class is dismissed?  

"Homeownership is the key to building wealth. I always knew that offhand, but it's even more apparent today. Families need to own a home of their own to build wealth and to build a legacy for future generations. The importance of homeownership in our living experience is so critical and NeighborWorks' courses have emphasized how important it is — the effect on health and attitude and outlook. Kids even make better grades in school when they have a safe home." 

Meet students like Roy Nash at the NeighborWorks Training Institute in San Francisco this month, Feb. 26-March 1. Nash has a conflicting conference in February, but look for him in Pittsburgh this August!