For over twenty-five years, the heart of the community has been the crux of why Nelson Acevedo has invested countless hours of serving on nonprofit boards and assisting nonprofits with their missions. Nelson’s work with community initiatives began back as a young man, where he was active in revitalizing his neighborhood through transformative youth workshops at church and with fellow community leaders. His passion for the community led Nelson to attend coursework at the Community Development Institute and subsequently taking Business Administration coursework from Pierce College. He applied his teachings to work in the barrio of Hunting Park, reaching out to help revitalize his own childhood neighborhood.
His aspirations to help his community led him to twenty years in the banking industry. Nelson has worked with thousands of families throughout the metro Philadelphia area and has helped close over 20 million dollars in loans over the past twenty years. With his help, families have been able to move from renting homes towards a life of homeownership. Nelson has provided the framework and financial solutions for individuals and organizations alike. Over time, Nelson made a seamless transition from individual home loan and mortgage assistance, to community development assistance. His current line of service has aided organizations with financial assistance to supplement outreach services. He has been instrumental with over $700M in community lending grants to over forty nonprofit organizations. These transactions have helped restore, revitalize, and rebuild community vitality.
Nelson has been faithful to his personal mission of helping families and communities thrive. He is an honest and forthright businessman diversifying financial portfolios and uplifting barrios, one personalized agreement at a time.
Over the years, he has provided intuitive and expertise advice in the housing, nonprofit, and financial arenas on local television and radio shows, including Puerto Rican Panorama, WDAS and WURD. HE has participated in countless grant presentations throughout the city and made remarks at several grand opening and grant media celebrations. His stewardship toward his fields of work has garnered him the Melton Bank Chairman’s Award for Excellence (1994), Delaware Valley’s Most Influential Latinos Foundation Award (2016), and Esperanza’s Award for Service and Leadership as Board Chairman from 2008-2016 (Awarded at Esperanza’s 30th Anniversary Gala, 2016). Nelson has also been cited in Esperanza’s 2006 Book Series, How to Buy a Home by Reverend Luis Cortes and in a Wall Street Journal article highlighting Mellon Bank’s nontraditional collection efforts for mortgage defaults (1993/1994).
Nelson is currently the Vice President and Community Development Specialist with PNC Bank, a bank with which he has served for over a decade. Leading the next generation with examples of stewardship and trust to help serve marginalized communities, he has been an active voice serving community nonprofits. His past nonprofit board service has been with Willow Grove CDC, The Salvation Army – Levittown, PA Division, Rebuilding Together Philadelphia, Housing Equity Center and Esperanza, where he served as Chairman of the Board from 2008-2017.
