It is with a heavy heart that we would like to let you know that our beloved co-founder and mentor to so many, Jody Kretzmann has passed away. Jody snuck in one more holiday season before departing. In his final days, Jody was surrounded by family, absorbing their love, prayers and comforting presence.
Jody Kretzmann and John McKnight started the ABCD Institute in the early 1990's after four years of research that culminated in the publication of their best-selling community development book, Building Communities from the Inside Out. Over many years Jody traveled the globe introducing ABCD concepts and fueling the spread of the ABCD movement worldwide. As vice president of the ABCD Board in 2016, Jody was integral in the transition of the Institute into a non-profit organization and its move to its current home at DePaul University in Chicago.
Beyond his ABCD work and the many who came to know and love him through that work, Jody will also be remembered as a gifted teacher by his Northwestern students, a talented writer, a community organizer and community development leader in Chicago and most of all as a loving father, husband, brother and brother-in-law.
Jody's ability to see the gifts in individuals even when they couldn't themselves, to identify and value the assets that exist in all communities along with his welcoming, warm spirit was a gift to this world.
He will be missed by so many.
We know we all have so much to share about Jody --
Please Share a story, Leave a Memory, Share a gift of Jody's you loved or inspired you...Read John McKnight's Tribute to Jody.