We ran this series last year to highlight several leaders in public housing.  Today we are going to look at a couple more leaders you should know.

1. Greg Forner- New Orleans- In June 2014, Gregg Fortner was appointed Executive Director of the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) to manage the daily operations of the agency and assist in its transition back to local control after several years of federal receivership. Fortner is the first appointed Executive Director since 2002.

Fortner brings over two decades of executive-level experience to HANO from several public housing authorities across the nation. He most recently served as the Executive Director of the Miami-Dade Public Housing and Community Development Department, managing a $435 million annual budget and a profile of 9,000 federal and state-funded public housing units and 18,000 Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers.

2.  Victor Cirillo- Newark Housing Authority-

Victor Cirilo has over 19 years of experience in the fields of affordable housing and public policy. He is a “cum laude” graduate of Rutgers University Newark with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. As the Director of the Housing Authority of the City of Passaic, he was the first CHAP awardee under the new HUD Rental Assistance Demonstrating Program (RAD) to close a Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)/RAD deal in New Jersey. He has personally closed deals under the LIHTC model and deals utilizing the traditional private financing model.

3. Cindy Stotler- Phoenix Housing Department- 

Stotler’s municipal government career has spanned five different city departments including being the Assistant Director for Planning and Development and other leadership roles in Police, Budget and Research and Finance.Phoenix’s Housing Department provides services to more than 30,000 residents including conventional public housing, affordable rental apartments and single-family homes.  Stotler oversees both public and affordable housing, housing vouchers and social services as well as property management and maintenance, loan servicing and federal grant accounting and compliance.  She also oversees 183 employees and an annual operating budget of $89 million.

Stotler has a bachelor’s of science in accountancy from Northern Arizona University (NAU), and a master of education in human relations also from NAU.   She is credentialed by Arizona State University’s (ASU) College of Public Programs as a Certified Public Manager from ASU’s Advanced Public Executive Program.

4. La Shelle Dozier- Sacramento Housing Authority-

As Executive Director, Ms. Dozier oversees community development and revitalization strategies in the City and County of Sacramento, as well as the provision of housing for low income residents using a wide variety of programs and financing mechanisms. She is responsible for the Agency’s function as the Housing Authority for the City and County of Sacramento which administers federally funded rent assistance programs to provide safe, decent housing that serves more than 14,000 low income families. Ms. Dozier is responsible for administering the Agency’s $190 million budget for 2017 with a workforce of 225 employees.

5. Aaron Darden- Oklahoma Housing Authority-

 Mr. Darden joined THA in May of 2017 after nearly a decade at the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) in Nashville, Tennessee. At MDHA he served in several leadership roles including public housing property manager, COO of affordable housing and director of recapitalization. His efforts at MDHA helped them achieve “High Performer” status from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Darden holds an MBA in management information systems and a bachelor’s degree in social work.

Conclusion- Do you have any other names we should consider?  Leave a message or reply.