FUSE Executive Fellow | Building a Unified Housing Strategy to Expand Economic Opportunity

Spartanburg has built a strong foundation for equitable community development, with rich cross-sector partnerships, a proven track record of place-based revitalization, and Movement 2030 as a shared framework for advancing economic mobility. The City of Spartanburg and Spartanburg Academic Movement (SAM) will partner with FUSE to embed an Executive Fellow who will synthesize the city’s extensive housing planning work into a unified, cross-sector housing strategy, align partners around shared goals and a compelling public narrative, and position the City to make informed, confident investment decisions that expand access to housing opportunity for all residents. Fellowship Dates: October 26, 2026 – October 22, 2027 Salary: Executive Fellows are FUSE employees and receive an annual salary of $95,000. Fellows can also access various health, dental, and vision insurance benefits. This amount is not representative of market-rate salaries for the experienced professionals in our program but is intended as compensation for a year of public service. ABOUT THE FUSE EXECUTIVE FELLOWSHIP FUSE is a national nonprofit dedicated to increasing the capacity of local governments to work more effectively for communities. We embed private sector executives in city and county agencies to lead projects that improve public services and accelerate systems change. Since 2012, FUSE has led over 400 projects in 58 governments across 26 states, impacting a total population equivalent to 1 in 10 Americans. PROJECT BACKGROUND Stable, affordable housing is a cornerstone of thriving communities and a critical enabler of long-term economic mobility. When communities invest in coordinated housing strategies that address both rental and homeownership across income levels, they create the conditions for families to build wealth, for children to experience the stability that supports academic success, and for neighborhoods to grow in ways that are inclusive and resilient. Nationally, communities that have made the most progress on housing equity have done so by aligning government, philanthropy, banking institutions, and community organizations around shared goals, using data to focus investment, building public understanding of what modern affordable housing actually looks like, and establishing clear accountability structures to sustain momentum over time. Spartanburg brings significant assets to this work. The city has demonstrated through the Northside neighborhood revitalization that place-based, cross-sector investment can produce meaningful community transformation when partners are aligned and resources are well-coordinated. SAM’s cradle-to-career framework has long connected housing stability, particularly school transience driven by housing disruption, to children’s academic outcomes, providing a compelling, data-informed case for why housing investment is an upstream community priority. Movement 2030 provides a shared strategic framework that links housing, economic development, education, and workforce goals across partners. PROJECT APPROACH During the first 90 days, the FUSE Executive Fellow will conduct an in-depth discovery phase to develop a comprehensive understanding of Spartanburg’s housing strategy landscape and the full range of partners, plans, and data that are available to inform coordinated action. The fellow will lead a structured listening tour with key stakeholders, including City leadership and relevant departments, Spartanburg County, SAM leadership and community engagement staff, A Place to Call Home, Northside Development Group, the Highland leadership team, local philanthropic foundations, banking partners engaged on Community Reinvestment Act investment, and community members across place-based priority neighborhoods. The fellow will review and synthesize the city’s existing planning documents, data analyses, and community engagement findings, including the state of housing report, racial equity index, economic mobility data, and SAM’s cradle-to-career indicators, and benchmark peer communities that have successfully built unified housing strategies with strong cross-sector alignment. Building on the discovery findings, the fellow will design and begin implementing a coordinated housing strategy, along with the organizational infrastructure needed to sustain it. A central focus will be synthesizing Spartanburg’s existing plans, data, and partner priorities into a single, accessible housing strategy that articulates a clear vision, shared goals, defined priorities across rental, homeownership, and mixed-income development, and a set of measurable outcomes that partners can track and communicate over time. The fellow will facilitate stakeholder engagement and relationship-building to align the City, County, SAM, philanthropic partners, and banking institutions around this shared strategy, building toward a coordinated system of accountability in which partners understand their roles and can report progress together. The fellow will also develop a clear public narrative around Spartanburg’s housing goals, one that builds a broader understanding of what a modern, comprehensive housing strategy looks like and why it matters for the community’s shared future. This includes helping the City prepare to make clear, data-supported investment asks in upcoming City and County budget cycles, and connecting with CRA-focused banking partners who are ready to invest but benefit from a concrete strategy to engage with. In collaboration with SAM, the fellow will ensure that the housing strategy explicitly integrates the connection between housing stability and children’s academic and economic outcomes, making housing a visible and shared priority across the cradle-to-career partnership. By the conclusion of the fellowship, the City of Spartanburg will have a unified housing strategy that is endorsed across city government, county government, SAM, and key community partners, with shared goals, a trackable framework, and a common narrative that community members, policymakers, and investors can engage with and act on. Coordination structures will be established to ensure that housing strategy implementation is sustained through ongoing relationships and processes rather than dependent on any single role, and the fellow will work with City and SAM leadership to clarify long-term ownership of this function so that progress continues well beyond the project period. The FUSE Executive Fellow will be embedded within the City of Spartanburg’s City Manager’s Office, reporting directly to the Project Supervisor and receiving strategic guidance from the Executive Sponsor. Given the cross-cutting nature of this work, the fellow will regularly engage with a broader City leadership working group to ensure the housing strategy is coordinated across relevant departments and priorities. The fellow will also maintain a formal dotted-line relationship with SAM, working closely with SAM leadership to integrate housing strategy with SAM’s cradle-to-career framework and Movement 2030 goals, and to leverage SAM’s community engagement infrastructure and data to ground the strategy in the lived experience of Spartanburg’s residents. Additionally, this fellowship is one of two complementary FUSE Executive Fellowships being launched simultaneously in Spartanburg. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES By Fall 2027, the FUSE Executive Fellow is expected to have produced the following: Unified Spartanburg Housing Strategy – Developed a clear, accessible, and cross-sector-endorsed housing strategy that synthesizes existing plans, data, and partner priorities into a shared vision with defined goals, affordability targets across rental and homeownership, measurable outcomes, and a prioritized action framework. Cross-Sector Coordination and Governance Framework – Established structured processes and relationships for ongoing collaboration among the City, Spartanburg County, SAM, community development organizations, and philanthropic and banking partners. Public Communication and Community Engagement Tools – Produced accessible communications tools, including data visualizations, progress-tracking frameworks, and a compelling public narrative around Spartanburg’s housing goals. Housing Investment and Policy Recommendations – Developed a concrete set of recommendations for City and County budget investments, policy adjustments, and financing strategies that advance housing goals. Sustainability Plan and Institutional Transition – Produced a clear plan for long-term ownership of the housing coordination function. KEY STAKEHOLDERS Executive Sponsor – Chris Story, City Manager, City of Spartanburg Project Supervisor – Mitch Kennedy, Deputy City Manager, City of Spartanburg Place-Based Partnership Liaison – Dr. Russell Booker, Chief Executive Officer, Spartanburg Academic Movement QUALIFICATIONS Synthesizes complex information into clear and concise recommendations and action-oriented implementation plans. Develops and effectively implements both strategic and operational project management plans. Generates innovative, data-driven, and result-oriented solutions to complex challenges. Respond quickly to changing ideas, responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies, and other processes. Communicates effectively verbally and in writing and excels in active listening and conversing. Fosters collaboration across multiple constituencies to support more effective decision-making. Establishes and maintains strong relationships with diverse stakeholders, both inside and outside of government, particularly community-based relationships. Embraces differing viewpoints and implements strategies to find common ground. Demonstrates confidence and professional diplomacy while effectively interacting with individuals at all levels of various organizations. #J-18808-Ljbffr FUSE