Saviors, Villains, or Allies? Exploring How Nonprofit Developers Navigate Narratives of Gentrification in a Changing City

In their article for Urban Affairs Review, Ashley E. Nickels, Prentiss A. Dantzler, Brooke Moeller, Emeline Renz, and Miles Davis-Matthews use media analysis and data from interviews with community members to interrogate the role that nonprofit community development organizations play in gentrification in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They identify tension between these organizations’ commitment to community needs versus their own organizational goals.

Prentiss A. Dantzler is a CGSP-affiliated faculty member, project director of the Housing Assistance, Neighbourhood Change and Residential Mobility research project, and director of the Housing Justice Lab.

Citation

Nickels, A. E., Dantzler, P. A., Moeller, B., Renz, E., & Davis-Matthews, M. (2025). Saviors, Villains, or Allies? Exploring How Nonprofit Developers Navigate Narratives of Gentrification in a Changing City. Urban Affairs Review, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874251361087

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the role of community-based, nonprofit community development organizations within competing narratives of neighborhood change. Using Grand Rapids, Michigan as our case study, we analyze data composed of historical news articles from local media and in-depth interviews with key community stakeholders. First, we identify three competing narratives of neighborhood change, highlighting the varying roles that nonprofit developers have played over time—from heroes to villains to allies. Next, we use the interview data to tease out how nonprofit developers make sense of and respond to these evolving and competing narratives of change. We find that nonprofit developers are deeply concerned about residents’ fears of gentrification and displacement and are, in principle, committed to deep community engagement. However, these organizations are constrained by their position within the development system as they navigate community needs versus their own organizational goals.