CHARLES LEEKS
Neighborhood Director
NHS of Chicago, North Lawndale Office
Charles Leeks’ association with NHS began in 1998 when he served as consultant on a feasibility study for a possible NHS program in North Lawndale. He stayed on as its Director in 1999 after the office was established. With a background in urban policy and economic development, and having lectured at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and DePaul University, Charles brings a range of experience to NHS and the North Lawndale program. That experience has allowed the North Lawndale program to pilot innovative strategies for creating homeowners, celebrating the communities, building non-traditional partnerships for community development, and preserving the community’s unique assets.
A proponent of asset-based community development, Charles recognized tangible and intangible assets upon beginning NHS’ work in North Lawndale. The community’s “built environment” represents some of the most eccentric neighborhood architecture in Chicago, housing more former synagogues than any other community in the country. The abundance of Chicago Greystones alerted Charles to the need to build innovative partnerships with other community groups, academic institutions, and professional preservation agencies such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Landmarks Illinois, and the Chicago Architecture Foundation.
Out of these collaborations, the Historic Chicago Greystone Initiative® emerged. Charles also recognized the cultural significance of North Lawndale was second-to-none. While it was known in some circles that the community had a robust Jewish past, very few had connected the dots with the contemporary, predominantly African-American neighborhood that North Lawndale has become. Noting that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had lived in the community as well as Golda Meir, Benny Goodman, and Dinah Washington, Charles’ focus set off a new round of interest in North Lawndale among community residents, potential investors, the academic community, and the City of Chicago, which is now proceeding along a track to “re-brand” North Lawndale as “Historic North Lawndale.”
Charles holds degrees from the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Howard University.
