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We engage in housing and community development activities
that will improve the diversity and quality of life for people
and communities in need.
St. Edmund's
Redevelopment Corporation
COMMITTED TO THE COMMUNITY!
THE REVEREND DR. RICHARD TOLLIVER
President & CEO
​The Rev. Dr. Richard L. Tolliver is an ordained Episcopal priest. He has five earned degrees, including a Ph.D. In Political Science from Howard University and is a graduate of The Advanced Management Development Program (AMDP) in Real Estate at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He has served parishes in Harlem, Boston, Washington, D.C. and retired as rector of St. Edmund’s Church, Chicago, on June 30, 2017 after twenty-eight years tenure. He’s a former Associate Country Director of the United States Peace Corps in Kenya and Country Director in Mauritania.
In March 1990, he founded the St. Edmund’s Redevelopment Corporation (SERC), a not-for-profit community development corporation devoted to revitalizing the housing stock of Chicago’s Washington Park neighborhood. He’s SERC’s President and Chief Operating Officer. To date, SERC has constructed or renovated over 734 units of housing located in 31 buildings at a cost of over $106 million. His multi-family affordable housing development initiatives have been internationally recognized in the media. Chicago mayors have appointed him to advisory groups charged with formulating the last five, five year Housing Plans for the City of Chicago. In April 2019, Mayor Lori Lightfoot appointed him a member of her Transition Team’s Housing Committee. In March 2011, Mayor Rahm Emanuel appointed him a member of his mayoral Transition Team.
He served on The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Mayor Emanuel also appointed him a member of The Commission on Chicago Landmarks; The Low Income Housing Trust Fund and the Chicago Development Fund (CDF), a non-profit affiliate of the City of Chicago that invests in Chicago communities using New Markets Tax Credit financing. In 2021 The Cook County Board of Commissioners appointed him a commissioner of The Cook County Human Rights Commission. Tolliver is also a board member of the Beverly Bank and Trust Company, owned by Wintrust Corporation, which has assets of over $71 billion dollars.
He has served on several diocesan, National Episcopal Church commissions, civic and corporate boards and is the recipient of numerous awards and two honorary doctorates. In February 2024 the bishop of The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago appointed him Honorary Canon for Domestic and Global Engagement. He has served as an adjunct faculty member at The Harvard Divinity School and Howard, George Mason and Chicago State Universities. He is a member of The Harvard Club of New York City and the Union League and Quadrangle Clubs in Chicago.
CECELIA HUNT
Deputy Director
Cecelia Duster Hunt currently serves as the Deputy Director of St. Edmund’s Redevelopment Corporation. Ms. Hunt is responsible for running day-to-day operations, negotiating land acquisition, overseeing new developments, asset management of the housing portfolio, and supervising third party agents.
Prior to joining SERC, she was the Development Coordinator for Redevelopment Services Corporation, a consulting firm specializing in affordable housing development. In that capacity, she prepared funding applications for clients in Illinois and Indiana, monitored construction progress and processed construction draws. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor and the University of Illinois - Chicago, respectively.
She was also awarded a Certificate of Completion from the Urban Developers Program - jointly sponsored by the Chicago Rehab Networks and the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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