Community Ventures is pleased to welcome Jon Brooks to the team as Real Estate Project Manager.
For Jon, this work is personal. He was born and raised in Powell County, Kentucky, in the Red River Gorge area, and he has chosen to build his career around helping Kentucky communities grow stronger. His interest in nonprofit work and community development comes from a genuine desire to see more opportunity, more stability, and more long-term investment take root across the state he calls home.
That sense of purpose is part of what makes Jon such a meaningful addition to Community Ventures. He joins the organization with experience in federal grant management, project coordination, and community development work, along with a practical understanding of how local projects move from vision to reality. Before coming to Community Ventures, Jon worked at Fahe, where he managed federally funded grants from application through closeout and developed specific expertise in CDBG administration, NEPA environmental reviews, and Davis-Bacon and Related Acts. He also worked across projects tied to public service, recovery efforts, and broader community development needs in Kentucky.
At Community Ventures, Jon’s role has been designed to be broad and flexible, which reflects both the range of work underway and the trust the team already has in his abilities. He will be involved in commercial real estate projects, support Western Kentucky efforts under Bart’s leadership, help organize the housing rental portfolio, and serve in a project management role on the transitional housing and rehabilitation initiative. In other words, Jon is stepping into work that touches several important parts of Community Ventures’ mission: supporting places, projects, and people in ways that create stronger communities over time.
What stands out about Jon is not simply his professional background, but the spirit he brings to the work.
Community development is at its best when the people behind it care deeply about the places they serve, and Jon clearly does. His path into this field was not accidental. He chose nonprofit work because he wanted to be part of bringing economic development and lasting opportunity to Kentucky. That motivation comes through in both his experience and his story.
Jon is also someone who has shown discipline and commitment from an early age, graduating from the University of the Cumberlands in 2022, completing his degree in just three years while playing football and remaining active in campus ministries. His resume reflects strong academic achievement, leadership, and service, including graduating summa cum laude and volunteering with organizations such as Mountain Outreach and other community-focused efforts.
Today, Jon lives in Richmond, Kentucky, with his wife, Kelsey, and their two young sons, Wesley and Hayes. Outside of work, he enjoys music, sports, camping, and travel. We’re proud that our staff are our neighbors, parents, community members, and Kentuckians who want to see this state flourish for the next generation.
That is one of the reasons Jon feels like such a natural fit at Community Ventures. Our work has always been about helping create communities where people can live, work, recover, build, and belong. We are glad to welcome Jon to Community Ventures and look forward to the care, perspective, and energy he will bring to this work. Please join us in welcoming him to the team.
To connect with Jon on LinkedIn, please click here.
Email: jon.brooks@cvky.org