David Swirsky has taken the helm of the North Hill Community Development Corporation.
Swirsky, who previously worked in grant management and fundraising, took over as executive director on April 1. He said one of his first priorities will be completing projects already in motion.
North Hill CDC, Swirsky said, has been working to improve North Hill by increasing affordable housing, expanding and creating community spaces and fostering opportunities for entrepreneurs, such as the 771 Project, which aims to turn one of the CDC鈥檚 properties into a mixed-use building with retail and affordable housing.
鈥淚t represents our mission in creating economic opportunity for local families and business owners,鈥� Swirsky said. 鈥淪o the bottom two spaces that face Main Street will be retail spaces for a local small business to host ... whether it's a coffee shop or cafe or a fast casual restaurant, something that will really bring people in daily.鈥�
The CDC is also involved in improvements to Waters Park, which received a grant from the Akron Parks Challenge last year.
The North Hill neighborhood, which sits in the northern part of Akron, has been a center for refugees and immigrants for much of Akron鈥檚 history. The biggest reason, according to Swirsky, is the presence of the International Institute of Akron, which is over 100 years old. Swirsky said refugees have helped mitigate the impacts of population loss in the city.
鈥淎kron has been experiencing population decline like other Rust Belt cities for about 50 years, and the neighborhoods have changed because of that, and people move out,鈥� Swirsky said. 鈥淎nd so this neighborhood is鈥攊t would have gone even more economically impoverished if not for the waves of immigration.鈥�
One current challenge North Hill faces, he said, is that the Bhutanese-Nepali immigrants who call the neighborhood home are beginning to leave for surrounding areas in Summit County, as happened with Italian and Polish residents in the past. Finding ways to keep immigrants in the community, he said, is a key task for the CDC.
鈥淲hat is a perennial issue is how can a city, how can the city of Akron proper respond to their needs and their desires and how can we keep them in the city Akron?鈥� Swirsky said.
Justin Chenault announced this past winter he would be stepping down as executive. Swirsky said he was a visionary leader during his four years leading the nonprofit and was the brainchild of many current projects, including the Waters Park renovation.
鈥淗e was really good at finding ways of relating with different kinds of people and. Casting a vision for how the organization can be a good partner in the community and host really special cultural events,鈥� Swirsky said.
Swirsky said Chenault was working with him as part of the transition.
North Hill CDC faced financial difficulties in 2025 due to cuts in federal funding related to the decrease in refugees coming into the U.S., according to Swirsky. It receives subsidies from the International Institute of Akron, he said, to house refugees transitioning into the community.
鈥淏ecause of the new Trump administration coming in in 2025, there were no newly arrived refugees coming in,鈥� Swirsky said. 鈥淪o that tap really was turned off, which... turned off a large source of revenue for our organization. And that's why at the time Justin had to let go one of the staff people that was here too.鈥�
That left Chenault as the only staff member. Swirsky said he hopes to hire someone part time to help with day-to-day operations.
Swirsky is the son of Rich Swirsky, a longtime Akron council member who represented Ward 1. David Swirsky said he hoped to draw on lessons he learned from his father in his new leadership position.
鈥淚f they were calling him to complain or voice their dissent, he would sit down and listen to them with the dignity and respect that everyone deserved,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd he actively listened and he took their feedback in. And I wanna do the same in my roles.鈥�
