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