Open for Business: Helping Small Businesses Adjust to Neighborhood Change

Manuel T. Ochoa is Principal and Founder of the Ochoa Urban Collaborative, a planning, community and economic development firm with an equity lens that provides strategy, policy, and implementation services to help people, neighborhoods, and communities revitalize and thrive. For the past several years, Manuel has worked in Puerto Rico, Miami and the Washington metro area with small business and community leaders on gentrification and displacement, disaster recovery, and housing policy. With over 25 years of experience, Manuel brings a unique mix of experience in federal and local government as well as national nonprofits. Previously, Manuel served in senior leadership positions at National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders (NALCAB), Enterprise Community Partners, and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grant Programs at the US Department of Housing and Community Development. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, is fluent in Spanish, and lives in a walkable community with his family in Friendship Heights, Maryland. Manuel is a member of the SBAN leadership team, serving as Senior Practitioner.