The director of the Boston Main Streets Foundation has a lot in store for the city’s network of business districts, including a more direct relationship with each of the 20 organizations across the neighborhoods. Eric Esteves, 44, took the helm at the foundation last September and has been getting more familiar with each individual district, including several in Dorchester and Mattapan.

The foundation was established in 2007 to help the existing districts within Boston stay coordinated and raise the funds needed to stay viable and effective. Getting community members more involved in the development of their small businesses is an additional priority of Esteves.

“I’m looking to get Dorchester and Mattapan residents engaged,” he said. “I would love for new board members and volunteers to be intergenerational because main streets programs need people’s ideas and people from the community to have input.”

Esteves and the rest of Boston Main Streets are working with the Dorchester and Mattapan businesses to undergo a business assessment. The assessment process, along with a $30,000 grant, will review the health of a business and its strengths and weaknesses. “It will identify areas where the city or other providers can help that business either to grow or strengthen some of their processes to ideally leverage some resources,” Esteves said.

A Boston native who has lived all over the city, Esteves has worn many hats in a career ranging from engineering to educational philanthropy. Just before he started his new role, he served on the Roxbury Main Streets Board for six years and worked as the executive director of The Lenny Zakim Fund. He was already plugged into various Main Streets and helped develop websites for a few of them.

“This allows me to kind of dive in deeply,” he told The Reporter. “I get around the city. I know the city like the back of my hand. So, I’m very familiar with a lot of business districts. I’ve been involved with main streets for many years, so it was kind of bringing together many different worlds for me.”

Esteves, who lives in Roxbury, has prioritized the re-launch for a citywide awards event, set for October, that will help to celebrate the achievements of merchants and volunteers and promote the Main Streets brand.

“It’s been a way to bring my network to the table and engage with folks who have businesses but don’t even know which main streets district they’re in,” Esteves said. “Helping to just expose more and more business owners or aspiring business owners to those opportunities so they can take advantage.”

The event will take place on Oct. 28 at Artists for Humanity in South Boston.

“Main Streets as a whole is a resource that they can utilize,” Esteves said. “We certainly would love to have more small businesses at the table to help brainstorm ways to drive foot traffic.”