Asset-Based Community Development Institute

On November 1, 1998, Bernie Mazyck took the reins as the first president and CEO of the South Carolina Association of Community Development Corporations. SCACDC is the state's trade association for CDCs and grassroots economic development organizations. Since his time with SCACDC, Bernie helped shepherd the growth of the community economic development movement in South Carolina from four CDCs to more than 50. Under Bernie’s leadership, SCACDC has been able to attract over $4 million to South Carolina, leveraging over $15 million in community economic development production.

Bernie made this move after serving as staff for the N.E.W. (Neighborhoods Energized to Win) Fund. The N.E.W. Fund was established by the Community Foundation Serving Coastal South Carolina to empower low-income residents to effect change in their own community through neighborhood organizations. In his role as director of the N.E.W. Fund, he assisted neighborhood leaders in the establishment of the first local resident-controlled community development corporation in the Charleston area, the Charleston Area Community Development Corporation, Inc. Prior to joining the staff of the N.E.W. Fund, Bernie served as vice president of community development of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce and a program manager in the Employment and Training Department of the City of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Bernie's work in the field of community economic development has extended beyond Charleston. He has consulted with organizations throughout South Carolina, Michigan, Alabama, North Carolina and Georgia. In 1993, Bernie joined the faculty of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute of Northwestern University and is the 1998 recipient of the Vera Paster Award of the National Orthopsychiatric Association for impacting the quality of life for people of color.

A lifelong resident of Summerville, South Carolina, Bernie is a graduate of Charleston Southern University and also a board member of the Historic Charleston Foundation, College of Charleston Foundation, Charleston Southern University Alumni Association, Southern Rural Development Initiative, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond’s Community Development Advisory Council and Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta Advisory Council.

In 2000, Bernie completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University. He is also the 2004 recipient of the Order of the Silver Crescent awarded by Governor Mark Sanford as South Carolina’s highest civilian award for community service.