SEAN HARDEN
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Sean Harden is a product of the South Side of Chicago. He was raised by a close-knit family where the concept of achievement meant leveraging individual strengths and a network of relationships—not only for individual benefit but for the benefit of the community. It was an environment where a tireless work ethic and lifelong personal development were not only goals—they were a way of life. This is where he learned to ask bold questions, take on new challenges, and embrace his entrepreneurial spirit.
As a leader, practitioner, and voice for positive change, Sean combines his technical skills in negotiating and structuring complex deals with his community and economic development background to uncover opportunity and create value in the form of social impact and financial returns. He is also a trusted advisor able to assess an environment and provide decisive counsel on critical decisions.
In 2016, Sean directed all of the real estate acquisition construction and management activities in Chicago for Greenlining Realty USA—a national real estate and management firm. He and the Greenlining team delivered the first blockwide real estate development in more than three decades in Chicago’s West Woodlawn neighborhood.
As part of this effort, Sean structured and negotiated the multimillion-dollar investment that funded the development of nine single family homes and managed the day-to-day construction. The first sale—a renovated +120-year-old property in the Woodlawn Pointe development— outperformed ROI projections.
In January 2022, Sean founded Hard Wright Development – a commercial and residential real estate development firm that will focus on driving comprehensive neighborhood redevelopment and revitalization.
Since 2013, Sean has also led his own advisory firm, Harden Wright Consultant Group, providing strategic planning, grant management and administration, organizational and business development, performance management, government relations, and community engagement expertise to small and mid-sized businesses and non-profit organizations.
Previously, as the CEO and President of Goodcity, Sean created new revenue streams for its business and non-profit incubator by migrating the organization to a fee-for-service consulting, training, and resource management model. From 2009 to 2011, he served as the Deputy CEO of Community Affairs for the Chicago Public Schools where he led a $10M effort to contract with community-based organizations throughout the city—an initiative that provided mentoring support to high school students at risk of violence.
The trajectory of Sean’s career began as a job developer with the Blue Gargoyle Youth Service Center. Due to his success in helping place dozens of young men and women in jobs, he was offered a Project Manager position with the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development. He quickly advanced into a Director role where he created thousands of employment opportunities across the Chicago metropolitan area with blue-chip enterprises like Ford Motor Company and Boeing as well as small and mid-sized local businesses.
In 2005, in the midst of a government restructuring, he was recruited by the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) to join the Chicago office and their mission to create socially and economically vibrant neighborhoods. As the Program Officer for the Great Neighborhoods Initiative, he underwrote loans that funded catalytic projects in Chicago’s low- and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods. In addition, he provided grants and technical assistance that supported community-driven development and revitalization in Chicago’s Woodlawn, Pilsen, Humboldt Park, and Englewood communities.
Sean’s service and leadership contributions to the Chicago community extend beyond his role as an executive leader. He is a member and the current chair of the Board of Directors for Friend Health Center—the sixth-largest federally qualified health center in Illinois.
Sean’s education includes Business Administration and Marketing Studies at Morehouse College in Atlanta as well as numerous certifications, including Certified Construction Manager (in progress) and Project Management Certification from DePaul University’s Egan Urban Center. He was a participant in the by-invitation only Civil Leadership Program sponsored by the University of Illinois. He has also completed certifications in Financial Understanding & Analysis and Effective Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Utilization.
