Industry News

May/June 1998

Industry News

On The Move

Andrew Mott has been chosen as the Center for Community Change's new executive director. Mott replaces Pablo Eisenberg, the Center's director of the past 23 years, who is stepping down at the end of June. (See Shelterforce #101 for a reflective interview with Eisenberg.) Mott has worked for CCC since its founding in 1969, most recently as deputy executive director for planning and program development.

Helen Dunlap, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), is leaving the Coalition to join Shorebank Advisory Services to "work with them and their customers to build community economic development opportunities." Bill Faith, currently the executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing of Ohio, will be part-time interim president during the search for a permanent president.

Steve Schnapp, former program and marketing coordinator at the Lincoln Filene Center, is now the director of the Center's Management and Community Development Institute.

Sr. Lillian Murphy, housing advocate and president and CEO of Mercy Housing, Inc., received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of San Francisco, in recognition of her leadership in addressing the affordable housing crisis and responding to the poor.

The Low Income Housing Fund (LIHF), a national community development financial institution (CDFI) based in California, announced the appointment of Nancy Andrews as its new director. Andrews follows Dan Leibson, who founded LIHF in the early 80s. Andrews formerly worked for the Ford Foundation and at the CDFI Coalition.

Former Seattle Mayor Norman Rice has been appointed Executive Vice President of the Federal Housing Finance Board.

Sarah Page, founder and executive director of Co-op Initiatives, a Connecticut-based nonprofit that develops permanently affordable, resident-controlled housing, has been named executive director of the Institute for Community Economics.

Fannie Mae Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James A. Johnson will step down at the end of this year. Franklin D. Raines, director of the United States Office of Management and Budget, has been named as his successor. Raines was vice chairman of Fannie Mae from 1991 to 1996.

The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy has named Robert Bothwell, who has been executive director and president for the organization's 22 year history, as the group's first ever "President Emeritus & Senior Fellow" as of Fall 1998. A search is underway for a new president to lead the organization in developing an organizational vision, mission, and goals.

Initiatives

NeighborWorks has launched its Campaign for Home Ownership 2002, with the goal of providing homebuyer education to 200,000 families, creating 25,000 new homebuyers, and generating $1.8 billion of investment in underserved communities through partnerships with banks, government, private, and nonprofit organizations. NeighborWorks: 414-241-8252.

PNC Bank Foundation will make $1 million in low-interest loans available to groups pursuing economic development in low- and moderate-income communities in PNC Bank Corp.'s six-state market in the northeast. 732-220-3306.

As part of their impending merger, Citicorp and Travelers Group Inc. have announced they will commit $115 billion over 10 years for lending and investing in low- and moderate-income communities and small businesses. The funds will be used for mortgages; small business and consumer lending; and community development lending, investments, and grants, through a Center for Community Development Enterprise to be established by the new company. The company will also establish a Financial and Technology Literacy Program. This move represents the first effort by a bank to enhance its community program by integrating the products, services, and community programs of a non-depository institution not covered by CRA regulations. The commitment, however, fell far short of the expectations of community reinvestment advocates, who vowed to press their fight to block the $70 billion deal.

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), LISC President Paul Grogan, and Rep. John Ensign (R-NV) announced a coalition of public, private, and nonprofit organizations and Congressional representatives, formed to advocate for a 40 percent increase in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, a move supporters say will produce nearly 600,000 quality rental units over the next five years. Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition, 202-293-8811.