Management Team

Farah Jimenez, President & CEO

It was twenty years ago, as a student at the University of Pennsylvania, that Farah Jimenez discovered her passion for homeless services and community development. At that time, yearning to respond to the rise in homelessness in and around campus, Ms. Jimenez volunteered to lead the University City Hospitality Coalition (UCHC), a full-time, volunteer-led program in West Philadelphia that served 2,800 family-style meals a month to homeless or low-income individuals and families.

This volunteer experience with UCHC opened the doors to Ms. Jimenez’ life-long career in the field of community development - a career which has included stints in housing policy and advocacy, public and Indian housing, and community development consulting.

In 2010, Ms. Jimenez returned to West Philadelphia to serve as President and CEO of the People’s Emergency Center – a comprehensive social services agency that serves homeless families through a range of housing, case management and counseling services; serves homeless and low-income individuals through its education centers developing parenting, child care, employment, literacy, and technology skills; and serves the greater West Philadelphia community through its housing and commercial real estate activities, small business supportive services, neighborhood planning and community partnerships in music, art, and fitness.

Before arriving at PEC, Ms. Jimenez spent 13 years at the helm of Mt. Airy USA, a nonprofit real estate development corporation in Philadelphia's historic Mt. Airy neighborhood. As its Executive Director, Ms. Jimenez led Mt. Airy USA’s successful efforts to transform its neighborhood’s long-blighted commercial corridor into a thriving dining and retail destination in Northwest Philadelphia. Employing real estate development strategies as a primary catalyst for this transformation, Ms. Jimenez led the development of various commercial and residential projects – from rental to homeownership to condo – and acquired a six-acre site for the agency’s next venture – a $50 million transit village.

In 2006, President Bush appointed Jimenez to a five-year term on the Community Development Advisory Board of the U.S. Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Active locally, Ms. Jimenez serves as a trustee of La Salle University, on the board of the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and as a member of the grant making services committee of the Philadelphia Foundation. Jimenez is also a regular panelist on WPVI’s Inside Story, a weekly public affairs show on 6ABC in Philadelphia.