Housing Leaders Speaker Series

March 31, 2022
The Federal Housing Finance Agency is responsible for oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in conservatorship and the Federal Home Loan Bank System. While performing this oversight function, FHFA plays a vital role in promoting access to mortgage credit and protecting the safety and soundness of the nation’s housing finance system. Decisions made by FHFA can also impact stated Biden administration goals, from increasing the supply of affordable homes to addressing persistent racial and ethnic disparities in housing. This fireside chat featuring then-Acting FHFA Director Sandra L. Thompson explored her vision for the agency and its role in advancing housing affordability.

Featured Participants

Fireside chat with:

Sandra L. Thompson
Director, Federal Housing Finance Agency

Moderated by:

Dennis Shea
Executive Director of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy, BPC
@DennisCShea_

Read BPC’s recap of the event.

May 24, 2022

Utah’s population has grown by nearly one million people over the past decade. Yet, like most states in the nation, homebuilding has not kept pace, resulting in an acute shortage of affordable homes for rent and sale, record price increases, and growing housing cost burdens, particularly on the lowest-income families.

BPC’s J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy hosted Governor Spencer J. Cox for a virtual fireside chat to discuss his administration’s response, ideas to advance housing affordability, and vision for Utah. The conversation focused on how the public and private sectors can work together to boost the supply of housing and what both political parties can do collectively to ensure every family has a safe, decent, and affordable home.

Featured Participants

Fireside chat with:

Gov. Spencer J. Cox (R-UT)
@GovCox

Moderated by:

Dennis Shea
Executive Director of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy, BPC
@DennisCShea_

November 3, 2022
Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit housing organization operating across all 50 states in the U.S. and more than 70 countries across the globe. Habitat works towards a future where everyone has access to decent and affordable housing regardless of income or zip code. In addition to its well-known home construction program, it also plays an important role in neighborhood revitalization, mortgage financing, and public policy advocacy. This fireside chat featuring Habitat for Humanity CEO Jonathan Reckford explored how the organization is working to enhance housing affordability for families in the U.S. and worldwide.

Featured Participants

Fireside chat with:

Jonathan Reckford
Chief Executive Officer, Habitat for Humanity International
@JReckford

Moderated by:

Dennis Shea
Executive Director of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy, BPC
@DennisCShea_

Read BPC’s recap of the event.

March 14, 2023

In her role at USDA Rural Development, Under Secretary Torres Small oversees the department’s housing and economic development loan and grant programs, which provide critical funding and financing to underserved and under-resourced rural communities around the country. In fiscal year 2021, this support totaled over $24 billion in obligations for home construction, purchases, and repairs and $1.5 billion to help low-income families afford rent. With other programs to expand high-speed internet access, upgrade water and wastewater systems, and more, USDA possesses some of the most powerful tools to promote housing affordability and drive economic prosperity in rural places across America.

This conversation explored the Under Secretary’s vision for USDA Rural Development and how USDA’s programs have the capacity to lift up rural communities.

Featured Participants

Fireside chat with:

Xochitl Torres Small
Under Secretary for Rural Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Moderated by:

Andy Winkler
Director, Housing and Infrastructure Project, BPC
@andybwinkler

May 11, 2023

Housing unaffordability, rooted in an acute shortage of homes both for rent and sale, is a severe problem across the nation, affecting red states and blue states, small cities and major metros alike. The City of Columbia in South Carolina is no different, needing thousands of additional housing units just to overcome its current supply shortfall and thousands more to accommodate the city’s expected growth in the years to come.

This webinar, the fifth in the Terwilliger Center’s Housing Leaders Speaker Series, includes a fireside chat with the Mayor of Columbia, SC, Daniel Rickenmann, who has been working to tackle high housing costs head on in the city, seeing the lack of affordable and attainable housing as exacerbating a worker shortage. From advocating for low-income tax credits at the state level to supporting new development and investments in ending homelessness locally, the mayor has been a vocal housing champion.

This conversation will focus on Mayor Rickenmann’s housing vision for Columbia and explore how other cities and local leaders might approach growing the supply of affordable housing in their communities.

SPEAKERS

Fireside chat with:

Daniel Rickenmann
Mayor of Columbia, SC | @colamayor

Moderated by:

Andy Winkler
Director, Housing and Infrastructure Project, BPC | @andybwinkler

August 8, 2023

The Government National Mortgage Association, more commonly known as Ginnie Mae, plays a critical role in the U.S. housing finance system. Ginnie Mae’s impact is significant: By providing a full faith and credit guaranty for $2.4 trillion in securities consisting of mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, USDA’s Rural Housing Service, and HUD’s Indian Home Loan Guarantee program, Ginnie Mae helps connect investors from across the globe to the U.S. housing market. This promotes the availability of mortgage credit to the millions of households served by federal housing programs.

BPC’s J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy hosted Ginnie Mae President Alanna McCargo for a conversation in which we explored the unique features of the “Ginnie Mae model,” her goals and priorities for the organization, and the opportunities she saw for Ginnie Mae to expand homeownership opportunities for underserved people and communities. The fireside chat concluded with an assessment of the future of the U.S. housing finance system.

Featured Participants

Fireside chat with:

Alanna McCargo
President, Government National Mortgage Association

Moderated by:

Dennis Shea
Executive Director of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy, BPC | @DennisCShea_

November 20, 2023

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is responsible for ensuring the soundness and liquidity of the housing finance system through its oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) system. Established by Congress in response to the Great Depression and currently consisting of 11 regional banks, the FHLB system is designed to provide low-cost loans to its 6,800 member institutions to facilitate mortgage lending, while also offering financing for affordable housing and community development projects. Last year, FHFA began a comprehensive review of the FHLB system to evaluate its performance over the past 90 years and to consider the role it should play going forward.

BPC’s J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy hosted FHFA Director Sandra L. Thompson for a conversation about the agency’s findings from its report, FHLBanks at 100: Focusing on the Future, as well as the status of the housing finance system more broadly.

Featured Participants

Fireside Chat with:

The Honorable Sandra L. Thompson
Director, Federal Housing Finance Agency

Moderated by:

Dennis Shea
Executive Director, J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy, BPC, @DennisCShea_