Kennedy Wilson Announces Local Hire for $40 Million Northwest Louisiana Community Development Fund I

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. , May 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Kennedy Wilson (KWIC.PK) announced that Zazell V. Dudley has joined Kennedy Wilson's Fund Management Group as managing director for the Northwest Louisiana Community Development Fund I (the 'Fund'). The recently created $40 million Fund will finance local real estate projects which will help revitalize low-and moderate-income communities (LMI) across Northwest Louisiana . Zazell ('Zell'), a long time Northwest Louisiana resident and business professional, will be the primary local Kennedy Wilson representative. Ms. Dudley will be the first level of contact for potential investment evaluation and will aid in determining real estate trends in the local market. Zell will also be involved in the Fund's asset management activities.

Zell, acting as President/CEO, started Dudley Enterprises in 1998, a medical and scientific product distributorship. Prior to her entrepreneurial endeavors, she worked for Corning Incorporated where she became the first African American female hired to Corporate Management in the Corporate Procurement Department. She managed procurement portfolios in excess of $200 million for various Fortune 500 Companies, including Mobil Oil and Corning Incorporated. Ms. Dudley began her career as an engineer with Dana Corporations and LTV Missiles and Electronics until joining Mobil Oil, where she implemented strategic centralization initiatives and supported refineries and plants. Zell earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from Louisiana Tech University, where she was the first African American female to graduate in this field. She later completed graduate study and a Masters of Business Administration from Dallas Baptist University.

Ms. Dudley currently holds position as Chairman of the Shreveport Bossier African American Chamber of Commerce and was a Gubernatorial Appointee for Louisiana Economic Development Council. She is also a member of the Committee of 100, Strategic Action Council (SAC), Biomedical Research Foundation -- Community Outreach Committee, United Way, Sci-Port Discovery Center, Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, and teaches in the Business & Entrepreneurship Success Training at Louisiana State University.

The Northwest Louisiana Community Development Fund I (NWLA) is a double- bottom line fund, meaning it seeks to deliver solid financial returns for investors while creating more jobs, more disposable income and a better quality of life for the people living in low- and moderate-income tracts in the ten parish region of Northwest Louisiana -- Bienville , Bossier , Caddo , Claiborne , DeSoto, Lincoln , Natchitoches , Red River , Sabine , and Webster . The Northwest Louisiana Community Development Fund I will invest in mixed-use, mixed income projects which include workforce housing and commercial joint ventures with a range of developers and builders in the community.

JPMorgan Chase has committed up to $10 million as the Fund's lead investor. The F. B. Heron Foundation, an important private, grant making institution dedicated to supporting organizations with a track record of building wealth within low-income communities, also recently committed to invest in the Fund. Other national foundations have indicated a commitment to follow Heron's lead. Regions Bank, dedicated to supporting the local community and its endeavors, has committed $5 million to the Fund. The Fund is receiving serious consideration from national pension funds and other leading foundations and insurance companies.

A unique local investor group brings African-American and Anglo-American investors together to invest jointly in these important endeavors. The local investor group has currently committed over $2 million . Red River Bank is the largest community bank thus far in this local investor group. Red River Bank's investment in this fund was made because they believe that everyone deserves an opportunity to own their own home and raise their family in a safe and caring environment. Other members of this group currently are Beaird Properties LLC, Jeff Lowe, Dr. and Mrs. E. Edward Jones, Community Foundation of Shreveport Bossier, Galilee Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Shreveport , and Centenary College.

The Fund's sponsor, the Strategic Action Council (SAC), is a highly regarded regional organization of business leaders and civic organizations committed to ensuring that NWLA has the skills and resources to compete in the global economy through integrating the poorest neighborhoods of the ten-parish region into a strong and diversified regional economy. SAC, which has a comprehensive agenda for reinvigorating the entire region, has charged its Community Development Committee (CDC) with the responsibility for the neighborhood development and fund oversight functions.

Kennedy Wilson is a national, vertically integrated, full-service real estate investment and management company. KW's management of the Fund utilizes the core strengths of Kennedy Wilson, and represents the themes that are at the heart of their business philosophy, blending both financial gain and community benefit in each investment. Kennedy Wilson's Fund Management Group, founded in 2000, has a history of successfully managing similar regional double bottom line private equity funds in partnership with Fund Sponsors in the Bay Area and in Puget Sound. They share the SAC's conviction and confidence in the opportunities present for mutually beneficial investment in these neighborhoods and in the region.

To develop the Fund, the Strategic Action Council engaged a nationally and internationally recognized team of professionals to guide and coordinate the process. Economic Innovation International, Inc. of Boston , which had prepared the path-finding 'Higher Ground Report' commissioned by seven leading business and civic organizations in Northwest Louisiana , and which led to the creation of the SAC, and its national partners, Strategic Development Solutions and Sustainable Systems of Oakland, California and of Los Angeles are market leaders in having developed more than $2 billion of double bottom line funds across the United States and overseas. These firms spearheaded a comprehensive market assessment, identified potential managers, managed an RFP process to select the fund manager, and are playing a central role in capitalizing the Fund, developing the Local Investor Group and helping to generate the pipeline for the Fund.

Contact: Karen Kasteel, Kennedy Wilson Fund Management Group,