CEO of Center on Halsted Wins Leadership Award

For his extraordinary accomplishments, the CEO of the Center on Halsted received the PrivateBank Norman Bobins Leadership Award at the 19th Annual Chicago Neighborhood Development Awards.

Each year the award honors an exceptional emerging leader in the community development field. CNDA recognizes outstanding achievements in neighborhood real estate development and community building, architecture and individual leadership.

Modesto Tico Valle leads the Center on Halsted, an organization dedicated to serving Chicago's lesbian, gay, bixsexual and transgender community.

Growing up in a rapidly changing Old Town, Valle learned early the values of community activism and nimble leadership. But it was during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s that Valle emerged as a true leader, growing into one of the nation’s most effective advocates for the LGBT community and for HIV/AIDS awareness. 

As an organizer, Valle worked as a volunteer, staff member and founder of a number of Chicago-area nonprofits, including the Chicago NAMES Project, Chicago House, Test Positive Awareness Network, Open Hand Chicago, and Gay Horizons—the preeminent social services group to the gay community. In 2003, Horizons shifted its focus to provide more holistic services to the community and became Center on Halsted.

Valle became the CEO of the Center in 2007, where he soon oversaw the opening of the 175,000-square-foot community center in Lake View, which now serves more than 1,000 people every day. A safe and accepting place, the Center on Halsted offers activities such as volleyball and cooking classes, as well as HIV testing, group therapy, and job training—all in accordance with Valle’s vision of developing all aspects of a person’s life.

In response to the needs of the community, this year Valle formed a partnership with Heartland Development, Inc. to create the city’s first affordable housing development devoted to LGBTQ seniors.

“We have come a very long way in the movement for LGBT rights and equality, but we still have a long way to go,” said Valle. “With inclusion as our core value, we’re able to open our doors to a wide variety of people, each bringing their own inspiring story.”

Under Valle’s leadership, Center on Halsted has become a home for diverse voices and a hopeful, safe place for LGBTQ youth and adults.

Editor's Note: This information was sent via press release.

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