The National Housing Conference will have a new president and CEO alongside a team of newly elected members on the board of trustees, the board of governors and the executive committee, effective July 23.
Chris Estes, who served as executive director of the North Carolina Housing Coalition since 2003, has been elected president and CEO of the affordable housing advocacy group.
Drawing on his “organization-building expertise,” Estes plans to work closely with NHC’s research affiliate, the Center for Housing Policy, “to develop effective housing policy solutions” that are based on and supported by research data and analytical insights.
Estes’ stated goal is to continue to strengthen housing coalitions. During his tenure so far he focused on broadening NHC memberships and strengthening relationships with various affordable housing entities. His expertise is in economic development, smart growth advocacy, welfare reform, workforce development, affordable housing development and asset-building research.
Estes will work with a completely new team.
John Kelly, a partner in the New York office of law firm Nixon Peabody, will serve as NHC chair; Ted Chandler will serve as the NHC vice chair, the COO at AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust; Eileen Fitzgerald as secretary, the CEO of NeighborWorks America; and Shekar Narasimhan as chair of the audit committee, a managing partner at Beekman Advisors, Inc.
Given the new sense of urgency around housing issues, NHC executives said during a gala event in Washington the new leadership team will continue to work on maximizing national efforts to improve federal funding and develop more effective housing policies.
