Community development has a long tradition in both Canada and the USA going back into the 1940s if not much earlier. As a profession, however, it really took off from the latter 1960s with the US War on Poverty and various federal (US) and national/regional (Canada) urban and rural development initiatives. Since 2000 IACD has held partnership conferences in Canada (twice) and the USA (three times). The Caribbean also comes under this region.

Regional Trustees



Holly Scheib is a Regional Trustee for North America.  She is currently President of Sage Consulting and has more than 20 years of experience in public health, social work, human rights, development, disaster, and advocacy with organizations across the world.  Her expertise is in transformative evaluation and participatory approaches, adapting scientific methodologies to fit the needs of specialized populations.  Her methods are institutionalized within Federal Ministries in the Government of the Somalia and in the Tribal Law of Taos Pueblo, a Native American Nation within the United States.  Holly holds a PhD in International Health and Development and Master’s degrees in Public Health and Social Work.


Hunter Goodman is an ABCD practitioner, trainer, and facilitator who embeds the principles and practices of asset-based community development in her commitment to uplift and inspire leadership within rural communities. Dr. Goodman is an Assistant Professor and Community, Workforce, and Economic Development Specialist at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service. An innovative, collaborative leader and researcher, she is committed to building and supporting a shared mission and collaborative, strategic direction within education, the nonprofit sector, and the local community.  

Hunter is an active part of the Asset-Based Community Development practitioners’ network and a proud trustee of the International Association for Community Development (IACD). She is an alumna of the Presidential Leadership Scholars Program, a first-of-its-kind executive education-style partnership between the presidential centers of George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Lyndon B. Johnson, dedicated to developing strong leaders.

Hunter earned her doctoral degree in leadership from the University of Central Arkansas and Master of Education degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. Hunter lives in Little Rock, AR with her husband and two sons.


Laurie Cook is based on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada and has over 30 years experience in community development professionally, as a grassroots community organizer, researcher and scholar. 

She is a PhD Candidate in Educational Studies at Acadia University, and her research interests include: how meditative inquiry as an approach to learning could enhance community development practice, posthumanism, agential realism and post-qualitative inquiry.  She has a Masters in Adult Education specializing in Community Development from St. Francis Xavier University, and a Bachelor in Journalism (Honours) from the University of King’s College. 

Laurie is also a past President for the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNet), a spokesperson for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll), owner of her own consulting firm called Chutzpah Consulting, co-founder of Flourish Community Development Consultants Co-operative, and is an active advocate for reconciliation with and reparations for communities affected by racism and colonization.  Laurie also lives with a mental ‘illness’ called Bipolar Disorder, and her experience with marginalization because of this helps inform her work.  To learn more about Laurie, please check out her profile on LinkedIn or her website, chutzpahconsulting.ca