A New Day at HUD 

Ron Sims, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

As the second most senior official at HUD, Mr. Sims is responsible for managing the Department's day-to-day operations, a nearly $40 billion annual operating budget, and the agency's 8,500 employees.

He previously served as Executive of King County, Washington, the 13th largest county in the nation, with a metropolitan area of 1.8 million residents, including the cities of Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond.

While serving three terms, he was nationally recognized for his work on transportation, homelessness, climate change, health care reform, urban development and affordable housing. His leadership in affordable housing and multiple community and housing partnerships funded 5,632 units of housing during his 12 years.

A proponent of Smart Growth programs and the preservation of green space, his  policies resulted in 96% of all new public housing construction taking place in urban areas.

He was named Leader of the Year by American City and County Magazine in July 2008 and was recognized as one of Governing Magazine's Government Officials of the Year in 2007. He has been honored with national awards from the Sierra Club, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Committee for Quality Assurance. Sims and King County are also recipients of HUD's prestigious Robert L. Woodson Jr. Affordable Communities Award for 2005.

Born in Spokane, Washington in 1948, Sims is a graduate of Central Washington University.

Building the Kansas City Green Impact Zone: Blueprint for the Future

 

U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO)

Congressman Cleaver is serving his third term representing the Fifth District of Missouri; he sits on the Financial Services Committee, Homeland Security Committee and the Speaker’s Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Born in Waxahachie, Texas, he grew up in public housing; he attended Prairie View A & M University, earning a B.S. in Sociology. In 1979 Cleaver was elected to the City Council of Kansas City. After three terms, he ran for and was elected to the office of Mayor, where he made history as the first African American to hold the City’s highest office. Rep. Cleaver served two terms as President of the National Conference of Black Mayors.

Going Green: What it Means for Residents, Communities, and Housing Agencies

Stephen Norman, Executive Director, King County Housing Authority

Mr. Norman has an extensive background in the design, development and operation of service-enriched and affordable housing. He served previously as an Assistant Housing Commissioner for the City of New York, and was the founding National Vice-President of the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH). There, he established CSH’s program operations and worked around the country with local governments and nonprofits to develop supportive housing for special needs populations.  Mr. Norman held an appointment as a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University in 1985 – 86.

He currently serves on the boards of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities and Building Changes, previously AIDS Housing of Washington, and co-chairs the King County Interagency Council on Homelessness.

Julie Livingston, AIA, LEED AP, Planning & Design Manager, Housing Authority of Portland (HAP)

 A registered architect with private sector experience in affordable housing design and land use planning, Ms. Livingston has been with HAP for 12 years. During that time, she has managed planning and design activities for numerous new developments, including New Columbia and Humboldt Gardens, HAP’s award-winning HOPE VI redevelopments. She is currently working on the City of Portland's Resource Access Center, planned to be the first LEED platinum permanent supportive housing development in the country.  

Margarita López, Commissioner, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)

Ms. López, a former New York City Council member, joined the NYCHA board in 2006.

As a council member, she worked closely with the New York City Housing Authority on several initiatives at developments on the Lower East Side, such as urging residents to take advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit, with the help of the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union, an organization she co-founded.

She served as the first Chair of the Council’s Committee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and Disabilities and was a member of the Council’s Finance, Contracts, Environmental and Higher Education Committees.

She served on the MacArthur Foundation’s Advisory Committee on Mental Illness and the Law, and under the auspices of the National Resource Center on Homelessness and Mental Illness, lectured and trained outreach workers across the country.

Ms. López relocated to Manhattan’s Lower East Side from her native Puerto Rico in 1978, where she was a community activist dedicated to the preservation and creation of affordable housing.

Edwin T. Lowndes, Executive Director, Housing Authority of Kansas City, Missouri (HAKC)  

Mr. Lowndes has served as the HAKC director since 2001. He began his career with the Authority in 1995 as General Counsel.  Prior to that, he served as a Deputy County Attorney for Douglas County, Nebraska where he worked primarily on civil matters concentrating on regulatory and governmental issues.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities; the Housing Authority Insurance Group; and the First Step Fund.  He is also an advisory member of other local non-profits.

He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree and his Juris Doctorate from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

Design and Development: Green Inside and Out

Michael Kelly, General Manager, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)

Mr. Kelly joined NYCHA from the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA), where he had served as Executive Director since 2000.  He also serves as President of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities.

Before joining DCHA, Mr. Kelly ran the New Orleans Housing Authority (HANO) where, among other achievements, he was successful in removing the agency from HUD’s Troubled Housing Agency list. Prior to that, he served as executive director of the San Francisco Housing Authority for two terms. 

Mr. Kelly is an active professional in the affordable housing industry. He has served on a number of national task forces and committees, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Troubled Housing Recovery Team and the negotiating committee for the Public Housing Operating Subsidy. He also served as an advisor to the congressionally chartered Millennial Housing Commission.

Mr. Kelly received his BA in Architecture and Urban Planning from Princeton University. He received a Master’s in Architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master’s in Education from San Francisco State University and is the former Harvey-Wadsworth Professor of Urban Affairs at Tulane University’s School of Architecture.

Stephanie E. Bothwell, Board Member, Congress for the New Urbanism

Ms. Bothwell is a community planner and an urban and landscape designer. She focuses on the role of design in creating healthy, activity-friendly environments; her clients include the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Trust for the National Mall. Until recently, she was Director of Urban Design for Downtown DC.  Before that, she was Director of the American Institute of Architects' Center for Livable Communities.  

She received her Masters of Landscape Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and has been on the faculty of Auburn University and the Rhode Island School of Design. She was also Senior Landscape Architect for the City of Boston's neighborhood revitalization agency. Her projects include the creation of the Orlando Naval Training Center new town, the redesign of Washington, DC's Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue, and HOPE VI developments.

She has won numerous prizes, and her writing and work appears in a variety of publications. She lectures extensively across the country on the role of landscape in the creation of community.

Rebecca Morley, Executive Director, National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH)

Before joining NCHH in 2002, Ms. Morley was a senior associate with ICF Consulting, where she advised clients, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and HUD, on the development of lead poisoning prevention and healthy homes programs. Prior to that, she worked in a variety of posts at HUD, where she was responsible for developing lead paint regulations and developing and overseeing children’s environmental health projects. She served on the President’s Task Force for Children’s Environmental Health Safety and contributed to HUD’s preliminary Healthy Homes Initiative plan and Strategic Plan to Eliminate Childhood Lead Poisoning by 2010.

Ms. Morley led the development of the National Healthy Homes Training Center and spearheaded NCHH’s work in the Gulf Coast region following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She has authored numerous articles and publications on the topic of housing-related health hazards.

She serves on the Board of the National Disease Clusters Alliance and on the Howard County Environmental and Sustainability Commission. She holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and a master’s degree in public policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Mr. Stennett has approximately 26 years of professional experience in modernization, design and construction administration of new and renovated office buildings, apartment complexes, restaurants, shopping centers, university dormitories, school buildings and public housing developments.  

In his current role, he is responsible for the Modernization and the Energy and Environmental programs.  He is also Chief Executive Officer/President of the Construction Services Administration, LLC a subsidiary of the District of Columbia Housing Authority.  Mr. Stennett has a staff of 48, including architects, engineers, project managers, construction inspectors, administrative, and maintenance staff.

Mr. Stennett received his Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) from Howard University (School of Engineering) in 1986 and is a registered Professional Engineer in Jamaica, W.I.

Tony Pérez, Secretary-Executive Director, Housing Authority, City of Milwaukee

Mr. Pérez came to HACM from the Milwaukee Community Service Corps (MCSC), which he founded in 1991 and where he served as executive director. Born in Puerto Rico, he graduated with honors from La Salle Christian Brothers College; he completed his undergraduate work at the University of Puerto Rico, the University of Miami and the University of New Mexico. Following graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he joined the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Social Services.

Mr. Pérez serves as an advisor, advocate and board member for a number of local and national organizations. He is a former president and executive member of the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps (NASCC,) and was recognized by NASCC in 1996 with its ‘Half-a-Lifetime Achievement Award.’ He serves on the Milwaukee Crime Commission, the Wisconsin National and Community Service Board, and Senator Russell Feingold’s Hispanic Advisory Committee. 

Kerry Knodle, Executive Director and Founder, Comprehensive Community Solutions (CSS); President, Illinois YouthBuild Coalition

Mr. Knodle has extensive experience in administration, strategic planning, case management, affordable housing and interagency programming with youth.  Since founding CCS, Inc. in 1992, Mr. Knodle and the agency have been extensively involved in housing and community development activities.    

He also serves as President of the Illinois YouthBuild Coalition, Inc., overseeing the first state coalition to become incorporated under the YouthBuild umbrella.  He is Past President of the Rockford Area Affordable Housing Coalition and has served on the Executive Board of the National Youth Employment Coalition.  He is also a founder and board member of Youth Bridges International, a transatlantic organization focused on socially excluded youth.   

Mr. Knodle has served on the faculty of Southern Illinois University in the Administration of Justice Department.  He holds a Master of Science in Administration of Justice from Southern Illinois University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Sociology from Luther College.

Ladan Sobhani, Program Manager for Communities of Practice, Green for All

Ms. Sobhani has developed Communities of Practice to connect people engaged in green job training, as well as those working to develop city-scale energy retrofit programs.  

She graduated from UC Davis with a major in International Relations and minor in Environmental Economics. A year traveling and teaching in Venezuela led her to work at  the International Forum on Globalization, where she researched and wrote about the environmental impact of economic globalization. She also helped organize large teach-ins on the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund. She spent five years at the human rights organization, Global Exchange, where she worked on a variety of campaigns including: a response to the California Energy crisis, organizing protests against the war on Iraq, and leading political fact-finding delegations to Iran (the country of her birth), Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Israel.

Challenges and Opportunities in Moving Forward 

David Abromowitz, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress

Mr. Abromowitz is a Senior Fellow at American Progress, focusing on housing policy and related federal and state programs and issues. A partner in the law firm Goulston & Storrs, he is nationally known for his expertise in housing and economic development; over the last 25 years, he has worked on projects around the country involving housing and historic tax credit investment; HUD-assisted housing; public housing revitalization; assisted living; community land trusts; shared-equity homeownership; multifamily rental housing development; planned homeownership communities; and other multi-layered public/private projects.

Mr. Abromowitz is a past chair and founding member of both the Lawyers’ Clearinghouse on Affordable Housing and Homelessness and of the American Bar Association’s Forum Committee on Affordable Housing and Community Development. He is a board member of the National Housing and Rehabilitation Association, and a member of the Multifamily Leadership Board of the National Association of Home Builders. In 2004, he was awarded the Trailblazer award of the National Economic Development and Law Center of Oakland, California, and in 2007, he was honored by the Fair Housing Center of Boston.

Mr. Abromowitz co-chaired the Housing Policy Working Group of then Governor-elect Deval Patrick (D-MA), and has served on other housing advisory groups for public officials. He serves on a number of charitable boards, including YouthBuild USA, The Equity Trust, Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly, and B’nai B’rith New England.

A former adjunct professor at Northeastern Law School, the New Jersey native received his B.A. magna cum laude from Princeton University and his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.

Doris W. Koo, President and Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Community Partners

A nationally respected leader with nearly 30 years of experience in affordable housing and community development, Ms. Koo began her career as a community organizer and has been a highly successful developer, public agency administrator, and nonprofit executive.  She joined Enterprise in 2001 as vice president and was promoted to senior vice president in 2002 and executive vice president in 2006. She was appointed president and chief executive officer in 2007.

From 1979 to 1992, Ms. Koo led Asian Americans for Equality in New York City, first as a member of the board of directors and later as founding executive director. She is credited with transforming the community-based civil rights organization into the largest owner and developer of low-income housing in New York City’s Chinatown and Lower Eastside. After moving to Seattle in 1992, Koo continued her involvement in affordable housing development as senior housing developer at the Fremont Public Association.

Koo joined the Seattle Housing Authority as director of development in 1994 and was named deputy executive director in 1999. There, she led four HOPE VI redevelopment efforts and oversaw municipal bond financing and internal management and operations.

Koo has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a master’s degree in social service administration from the University of Chicago.

Casius Pealer, Home Depot Affordable Housing Fellow, U.S. Green Building Council

Mr. Pealer previously worked as an Associate at the law firm of Reno & Cavanaugh, PLLC, and as Assistant General Counsel for real estate and development at the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA).  In both positions, he was responsible for structuring and negotiating mixed-finance transactions to create affordable mixed-income housing.  He also represented DCHA on the DC Mayor’s Green Building Advisory Council and supported DCHA’s energy services corporation in implementing energy improvements across DCHA’s public housing portfolio.

He serves on the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Housing Committee, is 2009-2010 President of the Association for Community Design, and serves on the board of Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C.  He has been published in the ABA Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law as well as the AIA Journal of Architecture and Architectural Record.  He holds a Masters in Architecture from Tulane University’s School of Architecture and a J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School.

10.21.09