Diane Yentel, a veteran affordable housing policy expert and advocate was just chosen to helm the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).
The organization’s board of directors selected Yentel to replace the retiring Sheila Crowley in the dual role of president and CEO.
The transition will take place in April.
“I am honored by the opportunity to build on years of creating transformative public policy to help achieve NLIHC’s vision of assuring the lowest income people in our country have decent and affordable homes,” Yentel said, in a statement.
“Given the extraordinary leadership of Sheila Crowley and the talented and dedicated board and staff at NLIHC, I have a tremendous foundation from which to sustain and expand our impact.”
Yentel’s career through the years
Yentel ascends to president and CEO of NLIHC after a little more than four years as vice president of Public Policy and Government Affairs of Enterprise Community Partners. There, she leads its federal, state and local policy, research and advocacy programs.
Prior to the role that she’s leaving to become the chief advocate for low-income housing, she worked at HUD in the Office of Public and Indian Housing directing policy development and implementation for the Public Housing program.
She began her career in the Peace Corps, after completing her undergraduate degree at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She also holds a Master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas at Austin.
Her past roles also include time as senior domestic policy advisor for Oxfam America, and advocacy work at NLIHC as a policy analyst, from 2005-2008.
While in her previous role at NLIHC, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, displacing hundreds of thousands of low-income people and damaging much of the region’s low-cost housing stock. Diane led NLIHC’s efforts to advocate for an appropriate federal response by both Congress and the Administration.
“Speaking on behalf of our entire board, I could not be more pleased that Diane will be the new head of NLIHC,” said Brenda Clement, Chair of the NLIHC Board, in a statement.
“She has the right combination of leadership skills, policy expertise, political savvy, and commitment to housing justice to be a perfect fit for our coalition. The people in our country who lack decent and affordable homes will be well served by NLIHC under Diane’s direction.”
The National Low Income Housing Coalition is a membership organization dedicated to achieving public policy that assures that the lowest income people in the United States have decent and affordable homes.
