M. DeLois Strum, National President, National Coalition of 100 Black Women & CEO & President, MDStrum Housing Services, Inc
Since 1975, Ms. Strum has worked in the housing & community development industry as both a housing professional and volunteer at the national level where she previously chaired the national Section 8 Committee of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). She has worked in the public sector, having served two terms as Executive Director of the Indiana State Housing Board; an appointment she held under two governors. Dee Dee founded her company in 1981; MDStrum Housing Services, Inc.—a professional services firm specializing in the planning for neighborhood revitalization, commercial and real estate development, strategic planning, public-private partnerships, homeownership, entrepreneurial program initiatives for public housing authorities (PHAs) and community development corporations (CDCs), and community-building which has resulted in a body of corporate work in the areas of non-profit management, strategic positioning, and strengthening volunteer boards. Now nearing 30 years of experience as a business owner, she has amassed substantial successes as an affordable housing expert, technical advisor, analyst, writer, and program/project manager. Her company has been selected by local, state, and federal governments to provide technical assistance to public agencies and community based organizations (CBOs) in the continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and including the development and implementation of programs of education and personal wealth-building, such as 1st Time Homebuyers training. Ms. Strum has given public testimony before subcommittees of the US Congress; provided interviews to the Boston Globe and the ABC Good Morning America show on problems and solutions to providing access to affordable housing for rental and homeownership by families of low- and moderate-incomes; and published related articles in industry trade journals. She is also a frequent speaker at national and regional conferences of America’s housing professionals. Dee has received numerous professional awards and recognition for excellence in business management, as well as housing and community development. Her firm was identified by the Boston-based Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) as one of America’s fastest growing Top 100 Inner-City Corporations in 2003, and again in 2008, and subsequently published in Inc. Magazine—America’s small business magazine. MDStrum Housing Services was also selected as Indiana’s #1 Small Business by the district office of the US Small Business Administration in 2004.
Since 1981 her volunteer activity and volunteer public speaking has largely focused on the empowerment and leadership capacity building of African American women and girls. She is a founding member of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Indianapolis Chapter, Inc., where, for four years, she was the driving force behind the chapter’s high school mentoring program, The Coalition Academy for Girls, and instituting “financial literacy” as the cornerstone of the Academy’s education program. She served a four year term as a national board member of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women (NCBW); and during her tenure chaired the national leadership development committee and successfully planning and implementing two national leadership retreats in Freeport Grand Bahamas (2004) and Cancun, Mexico (2005). In October 2009, Ms. Strum was elected NCBW national president during the biennial conference of the national organization and beginning a two year term as primary spokesperson for the 60+ chapters and thousands of members nationwide on the issues that most directly impact black women and their constituencies.
Other local activity and membership includes her volunteer service as a board member for Citizens Health Center, a federally qualified health center (FQHC) in Indianapolis, where she was an active advocate for programs and initiatives to eliminate minority health disparities. Ms. Strum is a member of the National Association of Business Women (NAWBO-Indianapolis), the Indianapolis Branch of the NAACP, and a founding member of the Holcomb Historic Preservation Foundation, a local organization with the mission to preserve inner-city green space and historic river estates. Over the past 28 years she has worked as a volunteer to raise monies to support local performing arts theatres, special African-American art exhibits for the Indianapolis Children’s Museum—the world’s largest children’s museum--and the development of a permanent African American art exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA). Ms. Strum has also developed workshops as part of the NCBW partnership with the Indiana Black Expo (IBE) for their annual Summer Celebration—the nation’s largest African American festival featuring workshops on business development, health, and economic development, in addition to providing a forum for African-American art, advocacy, and networking.
During the period of 2005-2009 her company served as HUD’s national disaster recovery contractor responding to the post-disaster housing crisis following Hurricanes’ Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.
