The National Housing Conference today inaugurated the most diverse Board of Governors in its history. The Board will be led by longtime member and first-time Chair Steve O’Connor, Senior Vice President for Affordable Housing Initiatives at the Mortgage Bankers Association. He will replace Anne Segrest McCulloch, Chief Legal Officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, who is retiring after two years as Chair. Ali Solis, Founder and Principal of S3 Advisory Services, will serve as the Board’s Vice Chair. The Board also includes three new members: Bryan Greene, Vice President of Policy Advocacy at the National Association of REALTORS®; Kathryn Monet, CEO of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans; and Akilah Watkins-Butler, President and CEO of the Center for Community Progress. A full list of members is available here.
The 2022-2023 Board is 25% black, 15% Hispanic, and 10% Asian and Pacific Islander. NHC has committed to building a Board of highly qualified leaders in affordable housing from across the country that “looks like America”. The Board is also sectorally diverse, like the NHC membership as a whole. No industry sector makes up more than 25% of either membership. The Executive Committee of the Board is even more diverse.
“NHC has been committed to building a Board of Governors that represents all of the people we serve,” said David M. Dworkin, NHC President and CEO. “We look forward to working with this incredibly talented and experienced group of leaders to realize our vision of an America where everyone is able to live in a quality, affordable home in a thriving community.”
“I am honored to serve as NHC chairman. NHC has a long and distinguished history as one of the nation’s leading advocates on affordable housing,” O’Connor said. “I look forward to working with NHC to advance affordable housing opportunities for all Americans.”
“I appreciate the opportunity to serve as the Vice-Chair of the NHC Board of Governors,” said Solis. “NHC is an important leader in affordable housing, and with the success of the Black Homeownership Collaborative and new Racial Equity Working Group, is also a leader in diversity, equity and inclusion.”
“I am excited to welcome a new generation of leadership to the NHC Board and gratified for NHC to be a model of nonprofit corporate governance,” said McCulloch. “Our vision is an America where everyone is able to live in a quality, affordable home in a thriving community, and that begins with leadership that looks like America. I am also proud of the work that the National Housing Conference has done during the pandemic, when having a safe place to shelter, to call home, has been more important than ever. The Conference has engaged broadly, with policy makers and thought leaders, activists and service providers, tenants, landlords and homeowners, to focus on solutions to our housing challenges. The work continues and I look forward to supporting the Conference’s new leadership team in this work.”
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The National Housing Conference (NHC) is the oldest and broadest coalition of affordable housing leaders in America. We are a diverse continuum of affordable housing stakeholders that convene and collaborate through dialogue, advocacy, research, and education, to develop equitable solutions that serve our common interest.